ChurchBlog

Free Indeed..?

2012-02-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

I was meditating on John 8:36 this morning, 'If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed!'. In the original Greek the word free is translated as 'liberated, exempt from obligation or liability, and unrestrained'. Now we know in this world that life itself casts restraints upon us, so how can these things be?

I look around at myself, my brothers and sisters and I wonder if we will ever really understand what Jesus did for us, if we will ever obtain that for which we were obtained, if we will ever believe the Word of God in a way that makes a significant difference for us and others? I wonder if we will collectively ever acquire 'abundant life'? I know that some have, and I supposed there will always be a small number of believers that will pursue these things until they obtain them, but I suspect most won't - perhaps its just too much work...

Let me explain further. If we believe that we are indeed free, then our condition, our situation, our status and our image must begin to line up with our belief, and eventually will line up with our belief. Proverbs 23:7 states, 'For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he'. This word 'thinketh' is translated 'gate keeper, janitor'. For us humans, our thoughts, or beliefs will rule or govern our lives. Truth is absolute in the Kingdom of God, but if we never apply our belief, or faith to it, we can't come into it.

We have been granted true freedom, true liberty by our Lord Jesus Christ, as His followers, to live this life in a way that is pleasing to Him. So what is holding us back? We are! But bro M, I can't do this because of such and such, or if I do that I'll lose my job, or my family, or my home, or I might find myself in prison, you know in my country its against their laws to live life as a disciple of Jesus.

I'm not necessarily saying to go around violating laws, nor am I saying (as Paul did) that this new found freedom is a license to sin, its not, and we shouldn't if we can avoid it. But I am saying that this world's laws, rules, guidelines, cultural norms and practices are the very constraints that we've been liberated from. They no longer apply to us, we are operating under an entirely different construct within the Kingdom of God, and we've been granted that life so we can be effective witnesses and ministers in this life to those who are imprisoned by this world.

We are free to live this life in love and in service to our Lord Jesus Christ and those around us! We are free to forgive those who have hurt or persecuted us! We are free to win souls, preach the Gospel, cast out demons, heal the sick, provide for the widows, visit the sick and in prison, and all the other promises and commissions we've been given in scripture. We are free to live this life abundantly, in prosperity, in complete health, free from sickness, constraint, oppression, and all the other devices that the kingdom of darkness would throw our way - that kingdom no longer has anything it can do against us if we don't let it. We are free to stand against it AND WIN!

We are also free to create church cliques which keep people out of the Kingdom of God, rather than in. We are also free to involve ourselves in the political processes of our land and show those who are living life outside of Jesus Christ that we don't like them, that we indeed hate them and want them to adopt our way of life - even though we are too lazy or scared to go and teach them the Gospel. We are free to demand that they change their lives; homosexuals, abortionists, liberal democrats (haha), or any other 'evil' that we all perceive as a threat to our 'sanctified life' within our church circles (sarcasm noted here folks). Unfortunately, we are free to be a reproach to the Kingdom of God and our Lord, if we choose - because at the end of the day folks, this whole thing is voluntary, that is the freedom that we've been given.

Sometimes I really wonder what is going through people's minds who claim to be disciples of Christ. We get so busy trying to defend our faith, that we lose touch with the very real mission and reason we are here to begin with. Jesus wasn't afraid to just walk into the synagogue and start ministering and demonstrating His authority as to prove His point. He wasn't afraid to walk into the dangerous cemetery and personally confront the demon possessed (legion) man who nobody else would dare go near and extend that liberty that He walked in to that man, setting him free from those demons. He didn't care what anybody thought about Him touching the lepers while ministering healing to them. Nor did He worry about how the Pharisees felt as He saved a woman's life who had been accused of adultery by them. He was free from their system. He wasn't afraid of the Romans either, ultimately being put on the cross by them - never changed Him, didn't frighten Him, didn't persuade Him from His course. He lived freely in this life to show us that we could!

We are no greater than our Master, and we need to get free from all of our perceived limitations, our biases, our fears, our bigotry and our immature behaviors that are turning people away from the Kingdom of God and not drawing them near. WE NEED TO GET FREE!

Jesus teaches us that we can and should walk in the fruit of the Spirit. We should stop listening to the many voices, circumstances, situations, news, gossip and all the others, and start listening to His Word about these matters. Lets get free from doubts, worries, fears, disdain for others, so that we can be free to love them, minister to them, and bring freedom to those who are suffering in a prison of darkness and despair. We are the bearers of that freedom, and that hope, and that love and that good news. No other group on the planet has it, if we don't bring it to the world, who will? Selah

My brothers and sisters, there is a liberation coming, a sweeping move of the Holy Ghost and He is beginning to shake things in order to liberate us, and make us free. We must be willing to let go of that which is binding us, even if it means abandoning old doctrines, traditions, and theologies to embrace a fresher revelation, a more complete truth. the Lord is moving in the earth, and we are free to miss it if we choose to. When we know the Truth, the Truth will 'make' us free. We must pursue it, and we must obtain it, so we can be in the earth what we were always meant to be. Blessings, MM

2012

2012-01-01T20:39:00.000-08:00

So its a new year. The Mayans think the world will end this year. The political machine is in full gear here in America, and many Americans think the coming elections will fix all the problems, this year. What do you think will happen this year? Will this year be your year, or will it reveal more problems? Does it hold promise, or does it hold fear for you?

The truth is, it depends on 'WHO' you are.

If you know the Lord Jesus, if you've endured great trial and testing in recent years, if you have a realistic view of the Kingdom of God contrasted against a world that is spinning more and more out of control, well then, you've probably built and grown your faith enough to continue to see great things, great works, greatness within your relationship with a living God. You are a prime candidate to continue to grow, mature, strengthen your walk and influence those around you by being that 'ambassador' in the Lord. No matter what happens this year, you will continue, you will press forward and you will live that abundant life.

As for 2012 and the rest of you, here is what you have to look forward to. The world's governments will accelerate their press to gain control; or at least strengthen their perception that they have the ability to gain further levels of control through their own intellectual efforts. This will translate into more restrictive laws, regs, and policies; including making life harder for those serving Christ. They will continue their press to create chaos and destroy the world's economies. For us, we must remain diligent in our financial affairs and not get caught in their destructive web. We will need to become more reliant on the Lord meeting our resource needs, and He will take care of us.

Things are not going to get any better in the western world. Elections are going to happen, change won't, conditions will get exponentially worse. The church will not have any ability to create a more comfortable world through the natural processes of man; the only good that we can do is to get into the quest of converting souls, that is our portion.

The world will seem to completely turn upside down this year. The world's leaders greatest fears are going to come to pass this year. Look for massive changes in world politics, geopolitical upheaval, economic shifts that will move wealth into parts of the world where they currently aren't. Those who have will lose a lot, those who don't will gain a lot. If the church wants to function in this environment, it will need to abandon its selfish ambitions and ride the wave of change that the Lord is implementing in the Earth; go where He is going, do what He is doing.

There will be some major disasters, each cycle of disaster will get greater and larger and more unbelievable than the last one. There will be great fear and grief building in the earth. Many will lose hope and will be ripe for preaching the good news.

As far as the 'church' is concerned. This year, the Lord will begin to pull back His mercy and tolerance of the foolishness that has been going on for far too long. He will allow consequences to emerge and He will allow His people to feel the pain of doing so much in their own strength; so many are looking good by their own efforts, that will begin to collapse this year and will bring reproach on the church, thus allowing the world's governments permission to step up the persecution against her. She needs this pressure and the results will be a deep repentance and return back to her first love; but it won't be pretty for quite a while.

Here is a really important point folks, listen carefully to this one! The Lord will do much more out of the limelight, than in. He is not interested in 'showing Himself off to the world' like so many preachers would have you believe. He will show His glory exponentially through the tribe of the unknowns, those who are hidden and faithful, those who are nondescript. You will know the real from the fake by following and seeking the ones who are not interested in making everything so public, those who avoid the camera.

With that said, let me issue a warning to those of you who have become comfortable bearing your celebrity status! The Lord will share His Glory with no one! You have been deceived and are in danger. He has left you to your own devices and you are deluded if you think He is with you, He isn't! Your pride has tainted your judgement, repent while you can. You must become less if He is going to become more through your life. The humble will experience a definite, noticeable notch up in the Spirit of the Living God in their lives this year.

Don't get caught up in fights that don't belong to you! There are innumerable quests and charities on this planet now, its almost overwhelming; the harsh truth is most of them are a waste of your time and resources, they have become a major distraction to the real work of the Kingdom. Don't allow politics, economics, news, or any other major distraction to rob you of your unique contribution to the Kingdom of God.

Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Its going to be that way for quite awhile folks. If you've become too comfortable, cast off your creature comforts, they will cause you great harm this year. Align your lives more than ever, with the genuine lifestyle of the believer (if you need guidance, read the Book of Acts). Be willing to have the Lord examine your lives and be brutally honest with you on your condition. This year He will be dealing with hearts, concentrating on the hearts of those who really love Him. Let Him have His way on this, it will be good for us, and we need it badly!

Suffice it to say its going to be a wild year, the Lord will be moving in very practical terms, avoid the hype and seek the genuine. Sharpen up your discernment meter because in the coming year its going to be a challenge to figure what is God and what isn't if you haven't been close to Him for awhile. A lot that may look like Him on the surface won't be. Seek Him, stay close to Him, and watch what He does, its going to be absolutely fantastic for those who have eyes to see and don't allow themselves to get distracted in this day! MM

Prophesy..!

2011-12-22T14:28:00.000-08:00

I have been remiss in my duties spiritually, so here is my attempt to make amends... ;)

Early on Sunday morning, before I awoke with a start, I had a very powerful prophetic dream. In the dream the Lord met me in a living room style building and a very good friend and mentor of mine, Bro Joe Crandall, was sitting in the room with us.

The Lord began to speak, he didn't speak long, and what he said was very concise and to the point. I distinctly remember Bro Joe giving the occasional amen with a very large smile on his face, like he knew something was up. Here is what the Lord said to me:

I'm getting ready to move in the earth. Not in the way most of my people in the western church can imagine, because they haven't been close to me in recent years. I will move next in North Korea and then Iran specifically, then into the Middle East, Venezuela and all the other smaller countries that have vexed America for many years. America has perceived that these nations are dangerous and has accused them of causing many problems in the world for many years. It is true that these nations have been in turmoil, and have perhaps been irritating to America, but they have never really been a threat.

He continues: I will move greatly in these countries, if the western church wants to participate, she needs to learn new languages and get with the program. As for the American church, and most of the rest of the western church, the very accusations that she has made against these nations will begin to come upon their countries. The western world will begin to ramp up policies and laws aimed at creating persecution of the church such as she has not yet seen. It will seem to her to be very counter to 'Christianity' and she will perceive the thing she feared the most has come upon her; that is a communist, dictatorial like rule, with very oppressive posturing toward the church at large in the west. My people need to understand that this will happen in order to shake her from her slumber. If she will not voluntarily move with me in the earth, I will allow circumstances to prod her into action. Many will get discouraged and fall away, but don't fret, for the church's most glorious day in the western world has not yet come. I would caution you, be careful where you invest your money and resources, for most of it will eventually be taken from you by these corrupt governments. Now is the time to invest in the Kingdom like never before, or risk losing it all investing in the temporary.!

I should have conveyed this to the church right away that morning, but got busy and messed up, My wife can confirm this as I shared it all with her as soon as I woke up. I was very excited and the fear of the Lord was all over me. There is no doubt in my spirit that the Lord will do what he showed me.

That evening, we got word via news channels that North Korea's evil leader had died. Truth is, he had already died when I heard from the Lord, we just didn't know it yet in the west. Selah..! I have no doubt the Lord is moving. WAKE UP CHURCH!!!

Real Ministry..!

2011-12-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

Something to ponder...

I was in a discussion the other day about our current affiliation with a local group of believers (some call that a church ;) - we were discussing whether or not we could be a benefit to this group. What is it that we could offer to make things better, this assumes that things are not where they need to be. In recent weeks, the church leaders have been discussing their future, the pastor recently left to take a position at another group of believers (a different church). This has left this group somewhat vulnerable as they wrestle with their own future.

I said all that to say this; everyone recognized we could do better. Everyone acknowledges our impact on the community around us is not where it needs to be. Everyone sees the lack of results and has been offering a variety of ideas to remedy the results. As I was asked the question "what do you think the real problems are here Mike" - I had a moment of clarity, not just about this church, but a moment of insight into THE CHURCH prophetically and I wanted to capture that insight here.

I will only report what I saw. If you're offended, not my problem. If you and I can find a way to sit in His seat, and see what He sees, recognizing that vast numbers of people are dying daily, we would be astounded by this insight.

There is a large portion of 'the church' that has no clue what 'real ministry' is, by and large, because deep in their hearts they want nothing to do with it! (selah)

Combine this fact with the reality that we see around us, large, popular 'preachers' and 'ministries' entertaining 'the church' every week with their 'feel good' orations that have no real biblical basis (of course the people don't know this because they don't study their Bibles) and what you get is a very real effort undertaken by the kingdom of darkness to deceive the people of God into believing that what they are doing is just fine; when in reality they are all distracted by the glitz and glimmer of 'churchianity' and its entertainment value to the degree that they never enter into 'real ministry'!

What is real ministry you may ask? I would point you to the Bible, and in particular the Book of Acts, but you would counter with something like, yeah I read it, so what? Ok, fair enough (I get that you can't see it although its right in front of your eyes), so let me put it in today's vernacular.

When we had our intense ministry to the homeless and street people of Virginia Beach several years ago (about a 3 year run), we started that process by physically carrying our derrieres down to where we knew hurting people would be. We personally met them and talked with them face to face. We took the risk of getting to know them and allowing them to get to know us. Once the relationship was originated (the first few minutes of meeting them), we recognized that we were now somehow responsible for their welfare and on some level their lives. We immediately recognized what a major burden this would be, and what a major commitment in time and resources we would be called to levy against this challenge of helping people regain their lives; starting with the Gospel, so that we would have something to work with - a right heart before the Lord.

We voluntarily took on the burden of praying a lot, making phone calls, driving to pick them up, holding teaching and ministry sessions ad nauseum, rescuing them out of jail, crack houses, and hospitals as needed, visiting them when they were in crisis, paying a lot of money out of our own pockets to take care of them, yada, yada, yada - times about 200 people. For that we were able to get about 16 people actually off the streets and see them get their lives back for real. We also saw a lot of progress with many others. I was a member of the executive board for homelessness in Virginia Beach, listening to 54 other agencies rehearse their efforts for those we were ministering to - mostly with very little results, and no other agencies could claim they ever got anybody totally off the streets and back into real life. So much for your tax dollars in the hands of career bureaucrats, or your gifts in the hands of poor church leaders...

This is just a snippet from our lives as we've been doing this kind of thing for many years. 'Real ministry' is getting your hands dirty, its effect invades your life and takes it over, it means living uncomfortably regularly, it means giving beyond your means, it means believing God on someone else's behalf until you see the results that you were asking for. 'Real ministry' consumes you! It takes over your life because it is born out of a revelation that you and I are no longer our own - His will, not our will be done!

Most in the church don't want this type of lifestyle. They want the entertainment process, they want to feel like they did their duty each week, they want their conscience's soothed weekly to make them feel like they are 'living right' and 'blessed' without paying the price to really enter into what those terms really mean. And if you approach them and challenge them to live their lives for Jesus, they use excuses like "Jesus did all that for us", 'Jesus wants me to be blessed and have lots of cool stuff", "Jesus drank so I can drink myself into oblivion anytime I want to", etc, etc, etc,...

Don't kid yourselves dear readers. What passes for ministry these days is a great deception sold to the Church at large, perpetuated by 'famous TV preachers, traveling preachers and others who really only want your money at the end of the day, and use the Gospel to make themselves and their families very comfortable at your expense. They are the proverbial 'white washed sepulchers filled with dead men's bones' that Jesus addressed in the spirit of the pharisees and scribes. DO NOT FOLLOW THEM OR THEIR MESSAGE!!!

They are deceived and in their deception, not only do they keep 'real ministry' from happening, but they rob the resources that are supposed to go into 'real ministry' in order to feather their own nests. They will keep you from fulfilling the will of God for your life if you follow them. They have no interest in equipping the saints for the work of the ministry, because at the end of the day, they don't know what 'real ministry' is, nor do they care to.

I know a lot of brothers and sisters who are carrying out 'real ministry' daily. It sickens me to see the 'entertained church' giving its vast resources to the wolves in sheep's clothing weekly while those that are carrying out 'real ministry' get stuck with little to no resources. I was recently made aware of a Baptist church that spent 1.2 million to construct a overhang on their building so the older folks wouldn't get wet when it rained. This church is the largest church in a small community that is very poor and has great needs - this is pathetic!

For the Record, the churches' entire reason for existing is simple. Show forth the Glory of God in the earth by converting lost souls and saving them from eternal destruction. We've been given the power and the authority to carry out this great commission and we can do this because He said we could. Any other efforts outside of this purpose for being, are most likely a waste of your efforts and hinder the process in most cases. Don't pretend to be a part of this Kingdom, be hot or cold, but don't pretend. We need 'real ministers' of the Gospel out there doing the work day and and day out, the rest of you just need to get in or get out of the way in my humble opinion... ;)

Our dilemma with our current situation is simple. We can recommend all kinds of ideas to help these folks be more relevant and have a greater impact in their community, but I suspect at the end of the day, they will default back to what they know and what they are used to. Status quo! Because the reality folks, is that most don't want anything to do with 'real ministry'! MM

Taking a Stand!

2011-11-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

On the surface this sounds like a 'Christian' thing to do doesn't it? Let's all take a stand against (fill in the blank) here. What are you and I standing against these days? I was praying the other day and I started asking that very same question, perhaps to myself, and also to the Lord. Lord, what are we standing against these days and is it the right thing to do?

What he revealed to me was a bit surprising, and shook me a bit as His Words resounded in my ears. He revealed to me that by and large, His people were taking a stand against 'the great commission', 'the Kingdom of God' and 'our personal willingness to suffer for His Namesake'. Wow, I thought, what is this?

It seems as though most of us are willing to go the extra mile, occasionally! It seems as though we are willing to visit those in need if we can squeeze it into our daily routine! It seems as though we are willing to give out of our abundance,when we have it, but giving out of our lack to someone who has a greater need than us at the time is something we generally won't do! It seems as though we are unwilling to accept truth, even if it is the most logical decision to make, because we just don't want to surrender what we are used to!

It seems our comfort has become our idol! It seems that our ambitions have become more important than the Lord's desires for our lives! It seems that it is simply too hard to go against the natural grain of our culture and its practices, even though the Kingdom of God is vastly different, and the sad thing is "WE KNOW IT"! It seems that our procrastination and our mindset of 'we'll get around to that later' has displaced His commandment of 'instant obedience', because it interrupts our plans or daily routine.

When I look across the vastness of what the Church has become, I see a great many ministers and Christians alike that are going along for the ride when its easy, when it doesn't cause any ripples, when it placates the world and those who would like to think that living this life is all about notoriety and comfort; but where are those who, like Jesus, cause a stir wherever they go?

The Lord spoke to me about this; in essence, we would see much greater results if we had the courage to abandon all those things mentioned above, and simply live this life as if there really is an eternity. We would be able to really celebrate and worship Him if we would stop pretending to be something we aren't! I can't tell you how many I see on the Internet claiming great things happening, giving credit to God, and yet we all know there isn't much happening there at all; and by the way, so does the world. We would see much greater results if we learned to be honest people, not embellishers and showmen! We would see much greater results if we would simply learn to tell the truth; both to ourselves and those we are trying to help avoid the ravages of hell.

This isn't a game show! It isn't a theatrical production! Most of those you and I are going to have an influence on will never step foot into your churches or attend your events! You must go to them and prove to them that you really love them! You and I must be authentic people, serving a real God who is alive and more than powerful enough to meet them right where they are and prove Himself to them!

We Must!

Measuring Up

2011-10-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

I was talking with a Pastor friend of mine the other day over lunch, and in the course of sharing with each other, I think we stumbled onto something elegant and profound; so I wanted to share it here.

We took note that the majority of the global 'Church' measures its' effectiveness using draconian methods and processes that don't seem to support the great commission, or any of the original intentions of the early church. We measure butts in seats, bucks in plates (the offering plate that is), attendance at events, testimonies (which we really don't believe in most cases), bills paid for 'church' property, the size of our buildings and physical footprint, our degrees, our titles, how long we've been 'serving', yada, yada, yada.

Most of you recognize those terms and would probably agree that we, especially in ministry, view the effectiveness of our campaigns in the world in those terms. They make up the collective filter that we view the world through. They drive our behavior, and therefore our results; but most disturbing to me, is that most of us never even give it a second thought, or question the validity of such limiting measures. We are told by those in charge however, that this is practical reality, and that we must fund the enterprise, and resource the gospel, and practically provide a place for us all to meet, and give people opportunities to serve - blah, blah frikken blah - its insanity.!

I know a good friend of mine in a little town called Gretna, VA., who has what would be considered by the majority of the church a relatively small and insignificant work, and I was sharing about it to this pastor that I was having lunch with. I began to share the characteristics that I've noticed in that place; like whenever the food program loads up with food, the response blocks the roads in town causing police discomfort; like whenever these guys decide to do a concert or play music in the public, a sizeable turnout can be expected; like when folks in town decide they need someone to pray for them, they know to go to this pastor and/or his people; like the beautiful presence of the Lord that fills that little sanctuary when these people gather to worship Him, even though they aren't wealthy or lavish in their ability to provide fancy surroundings. I rehearsed the fact that he has a fairly small group of people that are committed to living the lifestyle of the believer and that they can all preach/teach, minister and express the Kingdom of God in their community, or wherever they end up.

This pastor made a remarkable observation as I was talking; he says to me "ya know, I think I know someone just like that, that had almost the same type of ministry", and me being somewhat clueless still and slow on the uptake said 'really who'? He says to me 'His name is Jesus'.! Profound.! I'm pretty sure my friend in Gretna is in good company... ;)

Makes you wonder where all the other 'organized' churches fall in relation to MEASURING UP.? How do we measure our effectiveness as ambassadors for Christ? How do we know we are doing the right thing, the right thing that is measured in eternal terms? How do we stay encouraged when all the other churches are following the prescribed, ineffective methods that they follow, while it all may look great on the outside, it is considerably less effective from an eternal perspective?

I think you get the picture. Be encouraged beloved, 'church' leaders may be clueless, but there is a way and Jesus is not confused about the matter. What makes Him pleased, what blesses Him, what matters most to Him; that is what we should be about, wouldn't you agree..? Selah

His Intention Is To Kill You!

2011-10-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what the Lord's plan for your life is? Well, in a nutshell, its very simple to figure out. His plan is to kill you! He wants you dead, that He may live in and through your life.

Ok, so now that you know that, we can all go home and call it a day right? I wish it were that simple. Most who read this will get offended and argue the point, whether or not they believe it to be true. Some will listen and/or read the post, consider it, then move on as if nothing ever happened; relegating this very powerful, life changing truth to be a non-issue. But a few (remember, many are called, few are chosen) will grab a hold of it and it will change their lives, pure and simple!

By example, I know a brother who has lived in the Texas region for over 20 years, been faithful to his wife and kids, attends church and has done everything 'right' according to what he has been taught. He and I had a discussion several weeks ago about his life and about his walk with the Lord. From his perspective things couldn't be better; sure there were some mistakes he had made with finances that kept him working and worrying a lot more than he would like, and he was very involved in the church that he had been with for many years, but all and all he was pleased with the way he had lived his life.

On the surface, it would appear things are well; except for the fact that 'HE' was still in charge of his life and all the evidence backed that conclusion up. He confessed to me that he had it in his heart to someday start a church in a community about 15 minutes to the north of where he lived, and that it had been a very strong desire for the last 6 years, but that his pastor wouldn't 'release' him to go and carry it out.

For those of you that know me, you can imagine what happened next. I gently rebuked him and reminded him that he is not his own, nor is he any other man's, but he belongs to the Lord; and if he was really dead to himself like he claimed, he would've obeyed the Lord a long time ago and went and started that church. There is no doubt in my mind that desire he had was from the Lord.

Not blaming his pastor, no I'm not, many pastors throw roadblocks in front of people, some to test their resolve to see if they have the moxie to go and do what they know to do, some to simply hinder the gospel; either way, not going there. When I read between the lines, and gain the Spirit's perspective as my gifting allows me to, what I see is this: I am very comfortable where I am, according to all that I know to measure the success or failure of my life, I possess all the creature comforts afforded me by life, and therefore I must be blessed, which assumes that must be a sign that God is pleased with my life, therefore I'm not budging from this position.

Hmmmmm, understand folks, the Lord Jesus really could care less if you are comfortable or not. The 'GOD' that everybody claims to be serving isn't Jesus, its the god of this world, whom has bribed them into serving him because at the end of the day they are scared to really live this life as dead men, dead to their comforts, dead to their ambitions, dead to their reputations! They aren't dead yet, but are completely alive to their flesh and for the record, not serving the Lord Jesus Christ; serving themselves and their own best interests.

Before you all get angry with me, study to show yourselves approved and you will discover that what I'm telling you is absolutely accurate and true. The Bible clearly tells us how to live this life, we just don't like what it says in many cases. This is truth!

I love my brother, and so does the Lord. But, make no mistake, His intention is to kill him, and you, and me. We must die to ourselves, so that we can live for Jesus. There is no other acceptable way of living this life. Search your hearts, or ask the Lord to do it for you, and let the wicked ways inside of us be revealed so that they can be removed. This is the way, walk ye in it!

Dangerous Judgement

2011-10-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

I would be rich if I had a nickel for every time I heard a religious or non religious person say 'judge not lest ye be judged', and of course they usually follow that up with some sort of tirade about how we should all just love each other and stop the judging.

I hope to dispel any myths about this once and for all with this posting (yeah, right, good luck haha). The scripture they are trying to quote comes directly out of the Book of Romans, 2nd chapter. The English word 'judgest' is actually the Greek word 'krino' which means to 'avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to (sue at the) law, ordain, call in question, sentence to, think'. It captures the methods just as much as the act; in other words, one not necessarily do it with the mouth, judging within one's own heart or mind is just as applicable.

But here is the real kicker for me. When you really study this thing out, what you discover is that the follow on scriptures complete the thought that Paul was trying to convey; which is that if you judge someone else for doing, saying, thinking or otherwise participating in something deemed 'wrong', and you yourself are doing the same thing, then that is when the problems are created.

It does not state that if you are clean in the matter, and are concluding that person 'such and such' has done something deemed 'wrong', that you can't address the matter with them, because you can. The Bible calls us to holiness for that very reason. We need our brothers and sisters 'judging' us within the Body of Christ to help us all stay on track, and confronting us when we do 'dumb' things. This is supposed to be at work within the Body of Christ, so that the 'world' won't have a leg to stand on; because folks, if we don't judge ourselves internally, the world will, and it will be offensive to them and it will hinder the process of converting their souls.

Do you see the tie in here. This entire matter has always been about preaching the Gospel, winning souls, and making disciples of all men to Jesus. When we misbehave, or tolerate evil living within the Body of Christ, we are facilitating roadblocks to those who may otherwise accept the Gospel message and yield their lives over to Jesus as their Lord. If we don't have this accountability within the Church, we are hindering the flow of the Gospel to those who desperately need it. Nobody within the Church is exempt from this basic principle; nope, not even ministers or the elders. There is a more respectful method to 'entreat' elders, but I have found that sometimes, its the leaders themselves who are creating some of the biggest problems within the Church, and need to be judged upon if you will.

Suffice it to say that none of us are perfect, which is exactly why we need each other to get our backs; the problem is that when there is sin in the Church, those who are participating in that evil, tend to tolerate it among others who are doing it, because they have no position of strength to address it head on. For too long, those who are holy in a particular area, and who step out to try to correct the thing, get hammered by those who are captive by it and called vicious names and rebuked for judging when that is exactly what we are supposed to be doing.

If you and I are free in a certain area of our lives, we have the responsibility to help others get free in that area as well; and judging, or concluding, or discerning, call it what you will, is a part of that process. We should not shrink because of the opposition that we may face doing it. We, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ are the only people on the planet that possess 'righteousness' and only we can set the bar, or the standard against which everything else in this lifetime is measured.

If we don't do it, who will?

Another Great Testimony

2011-10-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

I am just amazed at how wonderful the Word of God is. An update on my quest to right as many wrongs as I can before I pass away, and try to make things right among my brothers and sisters in the Lord; had another major breakthrough today.

I know I've been on this for awhile, but this process is amazing. I got a phone call today from a brother whom I've had a multi-year roller coaster ride with, but who I still believe that the Lord brought us together for some reason. My brother in the Lord Billy called me and made contact, and we had a great conversation, we apologized to each other and re-committed ourselves to be brothers in the Lord and walk right with each other. We both acknowledged that the way we handled things was wrong, and that we wanted to learn our lessons, take our licks and move forward without any reservations or hard feelings.

The Bible is clear, when your brother repents, you have to forgive him. Obedience to the Word of God is the only right way to live this life, and it comes with incredible blessings. It proves that we are who we claim to be when we obey His Word. It activates blessing in our lives and shows the world that we are different, that we don't have to be slaves to resentment, bitterness or broken relationships. We don't have to seek revenge and act as if we don't know Jesus. Its a truly amazing experience, I must say.

I am happy about this and while I realize that this is a great victory for us, there are others out there that I must continue to try and pursue reconciliation with; I can't relent or give up, because Jesus loves them just like he loves us. Some will try and tell me to be careful, lets see, and all the other 'advice', but we can't operate that way if we are going to walk with Him. I forgave my brother and I expect that he forgave me! As of today, we are right with each other, and I know the Lord sees everything, so I'm not worried.

It is true that this life is wild, its unpredictable, its dangerous and its lived by the moment; but with Jesus we can experience it abundantly and with real results. Tonight, I celebrate the goodness of the Lord once again, and I'm glad Billy and I got right with each other; its a beautiful thing when brethren dwell together in unity - forgiveness is a requirement to live that promise. Selah

There is Another Shaking Coming.!

2011-10-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

So, you wanted to be a 'Christian' did ya? I suppose many of you were approached by someone some time back and told something like 'if you pray this prayer you'll be saved'. Some were compelled by a powerful message in a church building, others adopted their own version of 'Christianity' based on a collection of sound bites that they picked up along the way.

I have met so many different types of those who claim "Christ", so many who have mastered the look, you know what I mean? The Bible tells us in the last days many will be deceived and many will make the claim, but few will survive the journey (mike's paraphrased version). I think I've seen enough to conclude we must be in the last days.

It just seems so hard to find good people, let alone real members of the family of God. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm blessed to be surrounded by a relatively small group of awesome believers whom I know have been put to the test and passed. But its those other ones that I'm really getting sick and tired of running into, pretending to be something but all they have is a good acting skill-set. I'm getting to the point where I'm going to start calling them out, so get ready... more to follow...

You know, the ones who play like they got the goods, but their lives and behavior, their character and motives, they draw people away from Jesus, not to Him. They emphasize the gift and not the Giver. They flatter you with their lips, then destroy your life once they've finished sucking your resources and life right out of you. With them, there is no long lasting fruit; they emphasize the short term and ignore eternity. They put on airs like they are really important within the church, some of them even have ministry credentials, but they really are wolves in sheep's clothing. The Bible is serious when it gives that statement.

In a day and age where everybody is running around telling church people 'not to judge', I say its time to judge; at least to the extent that we start calling out those who are outside the Body of Christ, even though they are pretending to be IN it..! They have no portion in us, nor do they have permission to tell us anything about this wonderful Kingdom that we are actually in. Sad that we've been deceived by them for as long as we have. They preyed on our compassion and devastated the resources, time and energy that we had that could have gone a long way toward winning souls and dishing out charity to those that really needed it.

This is the main reason the next wave of shaking is coming soon. The Lord is jealous for His people, and he is about to start revealing these folks (again) to the church. Just because someone has a smile on their face and is talking nice to you doesn't mean they belong to our beloved and holy Jesus - do we make mistakes from time to time? Yea! Do real 'Christians' repent when they mess up? Oh yea! Its the hallmark of the fruit of the Spirit, humility and genuineness, sincerity and pure motives, peace within without the need for medicating, love that is real - sacrificial and unselfish. Imagine a people that walk that way with each other and you'll see the real church.

If you aren't walking this way with those who are your brothers and sisters in the Lord, then you can repent, while there is time to; or perhaps you really aren't in this Kingdom. I would say repent for real, for the first time and meet this Lord Jesus Christ that I'm referring to. You'll know that you're actually a member when you notice that you start obeying His Word; not necessarily just because you "feel good about it". They who actually obey His commandments alone have the right to claim that He is Lord of their lives. Those that don't, well... don't..!

Follow the Process...

2011-09-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

In the 'pleasantly surprised' category; obeying God's Word continues to prove itself correct...

Matthew 18:15+ the Bible tells us that if we have ought against our brother that we should go to him and if he hears you, you have gained your brother. It also tells us what to do if he doesn't hear you, which amounts to following the rest of the process to pressure your brothers & sisters into complying with the Word of God; the end of that process being to 'treat them as heathens and as if they don't know the Lord or belong to the Kingdom of God'.

The result of not obeying the Word of the Lord is an acknowledgement that the Lord Himself considers them outside of the family of God, and not a part of it. If a brother or sister in the Lord reaches out to you in order to try and find resolution or repair the relationship, you and I are commanded by God Himself to respond, or risk being cast out of this Kingdom. If you are a Minister, you are doubly at risk as you will be held to a higher standard. If someone comes to you, you must respond or risk having the Lord Himself intervene on that person's behalf. And trust me when I tell you this, it is always better to receive a rebuke from a brother or sister - if the Lord gets involved it will be waaaaaaay more painful. He doesn't play with this stuff as I have learned by hard experience. Sorry, I digress... ;)

So with that in mind, I embarked on a quest a few months ago to begin going back to those that the Lord reminded me, in my past, that I had offenses against, or they had offenses against me. He challenged me to take up my cross and try to reach out to them and make amends. Noting, that where I was successful, I would have my brothers and sisters back in my life, and I would be enriched by those relationships. He also clearly revealed to me areas where my life needed work and repair, where I was neglecting His Word and gaps in my life that needed to be addressed in obedience to His Word.

So I began to contact all those that I could remember, and those that he helped me remember. Many have responded, some haven't and I will now have to pursue them to the next level, on the way to total heathen declaration if they don't eventually surrender to His guidance.

I had a very nice lunch yesterday with a brother from the Corpus Christi area who was a more recent brother that I somehow ended up messing up our relationship. Our bridge was broken and needed repair. We talked for over an hour, had lunch and the information that we shared with each other was fascinating. As he told his side of the story, and I told mine, we were both able to see the hand of God in both of our situations, moving and preparing us for our eventual, total restoration back to complete wholeness. It was truly amazing; the Word of God worked... Again...

I would like to note how pleasant and good it is when brethren dwell together in unity, as the Lord's word points out. I have experienced it and it is profoundly good and wonderfully pleasant. Whether its a lost relationship with a brother or sister in the Lord, or a family member; in the House of the Lord, we are commanded to dwell together in unity. We really don't have the option of 'writing each other off' as so many do in the Body of Christ. Not if we want to continue to believe that we are a part of the Household of Faith.

We are only the 'people of the Living God' if we obey His commandments. I understand that sometimes in our humanness, we need some time to allow our hurts and pains to heal a bit, but I have learned through real experience that the faster we submit to His Word, and follow it, the faster our wounds will heal and they will heal the right way. For us to say, give me some time, let me heal, reveals that we don't understand our loving Father at all. It is the courageous, the violent, the bold who inherit His promises, His healing, His forgiveness, His promises! Not the selfish, weak, mealy mouthed, backslidden and hard hearted.

I'm just sharing my experiences and putting truth on the table. I understand how this works; the Lord will offend our mind, in order to reveal our hearts. The mind wrestles with 'how could I ever forgive what this person did'? While the heart says, 'obey His Word'; it will work!

I would advise, and reiterate - Follow The Process! The Lord knows what He is doing. His Word works and now my life is getting better because I'm obeying His Word. I am excited about all of this and wanted to share it with you. God bless.

The Value Of Life

2011-09-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

Its one of the unique aspects of our faith, that most other dead religions don't embrace. The value of every single human life, from conception to the grave, and beyond (which is the Bible definition of human life). And yet, even within our own sects, we have lost our way when it comes to this specific aspect of our faith; we find 'Christians' on both sides of many issues when it comes to protecting the value of life.

Scripture itself contains stories and histories of battles waged, swings of national movements away from the giver of life into idolatry and sin, and various other endeavors undertaken by man that eventually led to loss, death and destruction of life. Gee, sounds eerily similar to our sworn enemies' job description, "steal, kill, destroy". How often do we find ourselves in the seat of cooperation with our enemies' mission, tricky little devil that he is...

Tomorrow is the 10th year anniversary of the WTC/Pentagon attacks, and while we lose a ton of lives on a daily basis here in this world, there is something mysterious and sobering about dates like 9/11. As we try to imagine what it was like to lose our own life; what if that was us on that day? The way they died, the shear terror of falling or jumping from the flames and smoke, or the collapse of the building while we may have still been in it? Tragic death, untimely death is a mystery, is a fear, is a strange feeling to most of us; the suddenness of it, the feeling of loss for those of us left behind.

We find ourselves reflecting on these moments of our lives and it should sober us up from the intoxicating effect of the daily grind. Those of us that name the Lord Jesus Christ as our God, we should follow Israel's lead as they were commanded by the Lord to lay in memorial markers so they wouldn't forget the greatness of their Lord, nor the value that he places on the lives of those he has created.

The tragedy of 9/11 is that some went to Heaven, and others didn't! Shouldn't we be asking ourselves oh church, what could we have done better? Shouldn't we take a moment and remember that day, that tragedy and ask ourselves 'what are we doing today that is better than 10 years ago to ensure nobody ends up in hell for eternity', in a moment of time? What should be our response dear reader? What should be our response to the collective memories of major tragedies throughout our short histories here on the planet? The Pearl Harbor generation asked that question. The Holocaust generation asked that question. Are we the 9/11 generation?

What is the value of life and are we doing everything to follow our Lord's lead and protecting and preserving it? Makes me think...

What Does "Blessed" Mean?

2011-07-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

Could it be, here in America, that we have a very different definition of 'blessed' than what the Bible teaches as 'blessing'? How can we measure and discern what blessing is, whether in our lives, or in others? Is there a standard that we can apply, so that we can judge the matter rightly and determine what is 'blessed'?

We grow up in the western world being taught and reinforced through our culture, that certain characteristics define 'blessing'; and oddly enough, there is a history, a Biblical history that speaks some very similar characteristics. Health, wealth, family, liberty, opportunity, good behavior, no troubles, the look that society likes, to fit in, applause and kudos from those around us, smooth sailing, or at least the appearance of all of these things in our lives, and I'm sure many others. You get the idea...

Yet, the Bible, by which we should measure every aspect of life, seems to indicate that many of these things 'could' be a part of the Lord's blessing, but not in and of themselves.

I would submit to you dear readers, that true blessing is measured by the fruit of our lives, by the fruit of our relationships, by the distance in obedience that we travel with Him, the degree of sacrifice that we bear, by the unseen motives of our hearts toward Him and each other. I would submit that the measure that we have embraced in the western world for 'spiritual blessing' would have been rejected by Paul and the other early Apostles. If that is the case, I would submit that we are missing something.

We have become adept at wrapping 'religious' language around our efforts, at our meetings, and within our interaction with each other; but when it comes to loving each other no matter what that cost may be, we simply fall short. We need an extreme makeover in our souls! When it comes to going to each other directly when we offend each other and getting it right, we simply fall short. For some reason we simply don't have the courage to make things right with each other.

We have significant flaws in our theology when we think that we can shake the dust off of our feet and walk away when someone doesn't do something or say something the way we would have. We have missed the point if we favor those who we perceive to have great resources, of the potential to have great resources while we shun the brother or sister of low degree (James 1:9).

I just listened to a minister emphatically state that 'we are to be one in the Body of Christ in this day and age so we can see the glory of God'. Yet, I have firsthand knowledge that this brother, an older minister, doesn't live that message. I could point to myself and say the same things, so I'm not throwing rocks, I'm simply calling what is, IS!

I heard this brother claim that God wanted to wash all the hostility and offense away from the Body of Christ, yet when given the opportunity to prove that he could actually do it, not just preach about it, he did just the opposite.

How can we claim that we've seen the 'Glory of God', while we travel the globe when we treat each other the way we do? Do we not realize that Paul and the early church spoke of deep, selfless relationship with each other, they took care of each other, they sacrificed their own for each other, they proved their love for one another and walked in the unity of the Spirit for real; not just preaching and teaching it, they lived it.

I have purposed in my heart, to go back to those who offended me over the years; who treated me disdainfully (I'm talking about those in the church, not the world), because we are under divine mandate to do so, and I'm going to take another run at seeking forgiveness and healing with those relationships. When they had the chance to come to me and be 'Biblical', they failed. So this time I'm going to go to them and claim that I have an offense against them and I'm going to demand an audience in an effort once and for all resolve all of those outstanding divisive experiences that we have between us.

You see folks, God doesn't give His blessing just because we call His name. We have a covenant which means we have a part to play in all this. Many of those I will go to don't believe that I have God's blessing, but they are very wrong on that one. His blessing is what gives me the courage and the compassion to keep trying to make things right with my brothers and seek a path toward living what the Gospel is all about.

How 'bout you? MM

How Would We Know.?

2011-07-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

If I was to run across your path in a grocery store, or during the course of everyday business or life, how would I know that you are an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ? Or... how would you know that I was one? I am very interested in this type of discussion because I am acutely aware that I run into folks like you all the time, but I'm not always aware the you are 'one of us', so to speak.

I have noticed, however that many times certain words, sentences or questions can be a tell. Sometimes we just feel like we need to talk to each other and we start a random conversation that turns out to become a lifelong friendship. Sometimes we are completely clueless that we are around each other as we go about our daily lives. So, what is the difference?

I've been thinking a lot about this topic this week as I've been trying to become 'more aware' of those who are around me. Its been a fun little exercise. I go to various places in society and I'm paying more close attention to conversations and behaviors going on around me, and I've actually had a couple of opportunities to talk to some folks that I interact with who seem to be 'like us'. It is turning up interesting results and I have met a few people and connected with them, when perhaps if I wasn't paying closer attention I might not have ever noticed.

On the other side of that coin, I've been becoming more acutely aware of those who are hurting and have needs around me as well. I have found my conscience challenged at times when I hear a woman two aisles over complaining about the fact that she just found out she had cancer, after spending the afternoon in the doctor's office; paying for the medication from the pharmacy as she goes home to digest the bad news and figure out what the rest of her life will be like.

I am starting to take closer notice of the poor and the crippled around me as well. I can't help but ask myself if there is something more I could, something more I should be doing..? I ponder, how can I engage them in a conversation, how can I break the ice, how can I just ignore them and go about my daily business when I know that the Living God lives within me and I may actually have something they need..?

Just figured if I have been experiencing this, perhaps many others of you have been as well. I'd be interested in hearing from you if this is something that you've noticed as well; perhaps we can find a better way of doing something about this together..? Peace... MM

Do You Possess The Key.?

2011-07-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

I often wonder how some folks can spend soooo much time 'reading' the Bible, and turn out to be so clueless, so different than what it clearly imparts.

I actually met a guy in Northern Ireland who virtually had the entire Bible memorized, but clearly didn't know the author. I know some that are a part of my life, my circle of those I know that have woven in the language of the Bible into their day to day conversation. They make so many assumptions about God doing this and God doing or saying that; or God is so good He did this for me or that for me... Not saying he didn't per se, but when I observe their lives, when I sense their spirit, when I hear their claims I have to ask myself 'who are these people and what planet did they come from'?

Anybody else feel that way? You know, just because a person may be a minister, licensed or certified, or perhaps 'ministry' is their vocation; or just because we've know some that have been 'in church' for many years and they can spout stuff that sounds good and/or 'Biblical' - doesn't mean they know a darn thing that they are talking about.

Why can I say this? Because, ;), I've got a secret; rather I am fortunate enough to understand that the mystery of the Word of the Lord is reserved for those 'who know the Author'.!!! Without a personal, real, fresh, persistent and passionate relationship with the only, true, Living God, whose name is The Lord Jesus Christ, you cannot possibly know a thing about His Word, what it means, what it says, or any other mystery of the Kingdom.!

Without the key, you know nothing.! This should help those of you that walk in a fresh and ever growing revelation of Who He Is to understand why there are so many that don't seem to get it. They are blemishes at our feasts, spots in our communities and they give our precious affiliation a bad name. They are the ones who are sown as tares into the sea of humanity with the express purpose of blending in and making those of us who really belong to a real and living Kingdom look like blooming idiots.

Here's to all of you who find yourselves occasionally baffled by such stupidity and evil, but who couldn't seem to grasp how it could happen. Just because you read His Word, doesn't mean you're part of us.! The demons and devils have the Word of God memorized, chapter and verse, don't forget that. Their problem is that they cannot appropriate it like we can. They can't walk in its promises like we can. They and their followers, and there are many of them among us regularly, have a special place reserved for them for their mockery of that which is Holy.!

The Word of God is living, its precious, its beautiful and guess what? Its encrypted, locked up, hidden from those who don't know the Author and it always will be. Want to really know what it says and what it all means? Get to know the Author.! Find someone who knows the Author and get them to introduce you to Him, receive and accept Him as your Lord and Savior and start the process of appropriating His Word.!

Those of you who I know regularly read my blog and give me grief over it because you can't seem to get your tiny little mind around the Word of God, make the choice to submit to and serve Him, give yourself wholeheartedly to Him, follow Him, and the day will come when He will open it up to You. Unless the Lord reveal it, you'll never figure it out on your own.!

Optimism

2011-06-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

For all the areas where we all need to get better and improve the way we are living our lives, so that others won't perish; there are a lot of unbelievably good things happening all around us all the time. I wanted to take a moment and remember that.!

I was recently reminded by someone I consider my most valued life partner here in this lifetime, that the tone of my blog for the last few years seems to lean too far to the pessimistic side, the difficult view of life and the church. I acknowledge that generally I tend to notice areas where it seems major improvements are necessary if we are going to obtain that for which we were obtained by the Blood of Jesus...

But I would be remiss in my responsibilities if I didn't pay just as much attention to the wonderful side of this equation, for indeed it is the goodness of the Lord that leads us to repentence.

In the midst of my trials, you and I both should take heart, for the Lord's goodness and mercy endure forever; and if it can happen for me, it can certainly happen for you. I have even had several approach me over the last month or two and remark how fortunate I have been and that the Lord has shown me great blessing and kindness, and it is true.!

For those of you that don't remember, my losses included the loss of my wife. I was hoping against hope for sooooo long, that some miracle would happen, and that we would eventually find a path to reconciliation, but over time, it became painfully evident that it wouldn't, not because I did anything wrong, or that I failed the Lord or my family in some way; but honestly, because our situation evolved into one where we would have been unequally yoked had we re-united... enough said there...

Long story short, more details later, in February of this year, the Lord spoke to me plainly and told me he had chosen a new wife for me, that I wouldn't be abandoned and alone for the rest of my life, that he had the perfect wife for me and he clearly showed me who it was. I decided to be patient (let patience have her perfect work) and let the relationship develop on its own, but was really excited at the possibility of having that part of my life restored.

All of that aside, develop it did. It moved along faster than I could have possibly imagined, but suffice it to say she is the perfect match for me in every way. On April 10, 2011 we were married and life got significantly better for me. When I look at the last year of my life, and how torturous April 2010 was having my children permanently removed from my life, fast forward to April 2011 - what an amazing difference. Only the Lord Jesus can do that my friends.

My wife, my new best friend and life partner, my wonderful blessing and the change that she has brought to my life are absolutely incredible. Many times I recommend changes and I point out how tough it is to follow Jesus for real, but the benefits and awesome experiences that He brings into our lives are well worth it. I've waited my whole life to meet this woman, and I can't reiterate enough the awesomeness of it all.! Thank you Lord for your goodness.!!!

Define Insanity

2011-06-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

In our modern era, we have all heard that 'doing the same things, the same way over and over and over again and expecting a different result' is the definition of insanity, and I would agree - it is.!

So why do we, the church, do that every day? In the western world, we all go to bed every night and we all get up the next day, most going off to jobs, schools, church buildings, etc., and we do whatever it is that we do day in and day out. We change very little. When we have 'down time' we try to find ways to relax, have fun, enjoy our 'time off' - we get tired of this, and we go do that - over and over and over...

At some point, as we get older, we begin to look back at how we've lived our lives, and generally speaking, most of us wish we would have used our time more wisely.! Ask any elderly person, and by and large that is what you'll hear.

Are we all really here just to exist, to survive, to occupy a place in humanity, a marker with our name on it so somebody will remember that we existed? If that is so, then our ultimate victory and our legacy will be found in the cemetery, marked by a piece of concrete with our name and dates of existence; and along with it for most, dead dreams, visions, hopes...

Are we insane.? Since when does being a 'good citizen' qualify for a life of great success and exploits? Jesus said that those who knew their God would do great exploits. But Lord, we are too bound up by debt.! But Lord, we are too busy trying to work our jobs.! But, Lord the law says we aren't allowed to do the things that Your Word tells us to do.! But Lord, (fill in lame excuse here).!

Brother and sisters, let me give you just a few very sobering statistics; 6 Billion plus on the planet.! Lifespans are getting shorter for each generation.! Without Jesus, they have no hope of an eternity anywhere else but Hell.!

In the meantime, we are getting more comfortable, falling behind, distracted, unsatisfied, and ultimately ineffective. Now understand, I acknowledge that we don't have the power to effect change in the hearts of men by ourselves, we need Jesus to move on them, but I can tell you this, if we don't engage soon and get some revelation that looks something like maximum effort, we are getting ready to see millions of people populate eternity from certain sectors of the world.

If we don't have much happening in our part of the world, then we must connect with somebody who does in their part of the world and support them with all we got. Whatever happened to basic teamwork anyways; since when did we get so selfish?

I'm aware of a situation back home that has been around for awhile, where most of the folks have virtually nothing, but one that does refuses to use what he has to help out and has fallen into a critical spirit, criticizing others for not having resources and for not doing enough. Folks, we don't have time for that kind of foolishness. It is high time that we invested our time pushing the Kingdom of God forward as best we can with whatever we have in our hand, believing God for even more creativity, resources and anointing; pressing toward the mark of the high call of God in Christ Jesus.

Time is shorter than we can all imagine, if nothing else, its short for us. Lets get focused and stop wasting precious time. Wouldn't you agree..?

Courage

2011-06-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

I was just sitting here thinking, probably something I shouldn't spend much time doing. The last four years have truly been life changing for me - starting with the death of my oldest son, followed by the loss of my career, wife, house, family, and just about anything else you can imagine - it was brutal to say the least.

I just got off Facebook where I was chatting with my youngest son, who was taken away from me by an illegitimate court back in 2009 and given to a woman who completely turned her back on God when all the loss was happening. My beautiful younger children, who no longer attend church, who no longer have the same loving, supportive Christian environment that they had when they were living with me because the court called me a religious nut; why, because I was able to declare that the strength I had in the midst of all the loss came from Jesus Christ - whom they claim doesn't exist. They didn't want my kids around someone who talked to invisible imaginary friends.

It was tonight that it occurred to me just how much courage it takes to have a relationship with Jesus. As the pain in my heart over being forcibly separated from my kids, who want to be with me, by a heartless state that is doing its very best to wrestle any faith that American's may have left in their hearts away from them through 'legal' processes day in and day out. I miss my children and its an enduring pain and sadness in my heart; oddly enough co-existing alongside a lasting joy and hope that can only originate from a source known to us Christian's, the living God.

Dear reader, what would you be willing to endure, or give up to follow Jesus. To what end are you willing to press forward knowing that governments have the power to pressure us all into the temptation of denying the one who alone possesses the words of life. There are many who suffer in the world of ours, so perhaps we aren't the only ones that suffer because of our chosen affiliation - however, it seems that no matter where you fall in that continuum, you still need incredible courage and fortitude to press forward.

The Bible teaches us that these three things endure - faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. How much courage does it take to love your enemies; try this one on for size and try to imagine what I experience every day. How much love does it require, and how much courage to love those who wrongfully take your children and declare that they are owned by the state and therefore they have the power and authority to do it? Can you love those that steal your children so that they can torture you because you believe a certain way? If you can honestly gain victory over that one, then I would say you finally have the courage to love - until then, not so much...

More on the 'Kingdom'

2011-06-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

As I pray and contemplate the many efforts undertaken by man to make the world a better place, and as I spend time with the one who created this world, I have concluded a simple fact. Its a simple fact yes, but its an absolutely profound and world changing fact. The fact is, all efforts undertaken by man to make the world a better place, are misplaced.

We aren't here to make the world a better place, we are here to bring the Kingdom of God into the hearts of men and nurture them along the path of discipleship and growth until they can bring the Kingdom of God into the hearts of men. Its supposed to be a predictable, repeatable cycle as each generation comes on the scene and lives out their days here in the Earth, one that is tangibly demonstrated, not just theorized about.

I absolutely agree that a big part of all of this is charitable efforts; but without the spiritual mission being the predominant emphasis in the mix, we are really wasting a lot of effort. The hearts of men must be changed more than, versus, instead of us making everybody as comfortable as possible while they all wait to die and end up in an eternal separation from the One who could have given them the life that they so desperately desired.

I can't tell you how many I've run across who are so busy trying to create some change; change the government, change the technology, change the world, change the climate, yada, yada, yada. All the efforts of man, outside of this great commission and our relationship with a living God are FRUITLESS.!!!!. An eternal waste of the precious time that we have all been measured to invest our lives into others on behalf of the Kingdom of God, or not - simply watching as each second ticks off the clock as we go about our daily routines of spending/wasting life and effort on fruitless endeavors...

Our entire existence is geared around the Kingdom of God, anything else, outside of this philosophical basis could be argued and posited as not life-giving, but contributing to death's coffers; hell's treasury as the enemy of our souls sits back and watches as we leach the life we've been given on luxurious living, man-devised efforts, lifeless causes, etc. - selah...

Gambling...

2011-05-31T09:39:00.000-07:00

We have a term that we use in 'Church' - 'playing church'. Its a funny little term that is a part of the vast vernacular of 'Churchianity' and its funny little language. We often accuse each other of playing church, yada, yada, yada...

Let me say that most who attend 'churches' across this great land aren't playing church per se, but they are gambling, which in my opinion is much more dangerous and a more accurate depiction of what is really occurring.

In the financial world, we refer to gambling when a person doesn't know what they are doing, hasn't done the homework, hasn't paid the price to learn how things work in the realm of finances, and yet is making major decisions seeking, hoping, wondering if the decision that they made will yield the results they are hoping for.

Yup, that is what most in church do. I hear it in their language all the time. I even hear it in the Pastors' language all the time; 'let us pray, oh gracious Father, blah, blah, blah..." Don't they know who they are talking to? Don't they know anything about Him? Don't they know what pleases Him and what His Word says about the matters they are entreating Him for?

I've talked with a great many folks, church folks, in the last couple of years, and I can tell they really don't know. We, the leaders in this generation have failed them. We have failed to disciple them, to teach them, to accurately depict who He is; we are left with a generation of people who "hope" they will make it into Heaven when they die. That is scary folks.!

I hear it at funerals, in the market place and in the work place (yes, I eavesdrop on conversations all the time) ;) .. 'May God grant this person acceptance and grace now that they've passed', or 'My plan is just to show up and hope for the best'. That is Russian Roulette on steroids - this thing is eternal man..! It doesn't work that way..!

Jesus clearly illustrated in His Word, 'Depart from me, I never knew you'.! This is our time, our life is our moment to meet Him, get to know Him, and follow Him, now, here at this moment; to pay the price in building a relationship with Him now so that He will know us, and we Him..!

If I could Pastors, I would beg you, please tell them the truth, please give them the right information so they can make the right decisions. Please stop your religious power plays and fanaglings, stop being like the pharisees and stop playing church yourselves, please stop gambling, please introduce them to our magnificent Lord Jesus and help them get to know Him while there is time to do it. Please don't let them go into eternity on a gamble..!

Hard Lessons...

2011-05-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

I've observed for many years varying responses to the Lord's effort to 'move' in our midst. His heart is to move consistently among us, to manifest Himself persistently through us, and to dwell among us regularly; read your Bible and you'll see that it is so.!

Why don't we live that life? What trips us up? Alas, its not the big things, but the small, simple things that quench His Spirit every time...

Here is my list, captured during my short lifetime here on the planet, of places that I've been where the Lord wanted to launch revival; not by my hand per se, but I went ahead in the role of Prophet to 'test the ground' so to speak and see if it was fertile enough for the 'Move of God'. Let this list be a reminder that we must walk with Him regularly so that we will be sensitive enough and humble enough to qualify ourselves to participate when the Lord seeks those that are asking for revival.

My call, and therefore my place of authority in the Lord began to come alive while I was living in Suffolk, VA in 2004; transitioning from being the student to becoming the teacher/operator if you will. I was sent on a 6 month assignment to Virginia Beach. Six months preparing the ground; but when the test was given, FAIL..!

Why is this important? A geographical area is governed by the collective spiritual leaders that reside there, not by those elected by the people. Those leaders hold the keys to revival - sometimes a micro-move will occur when some are hungry and qualified and some are not. When they are all collectively in agreement and qualified, a major move will occur when the Lord shows up. The Lord can move through one leader and accomplish a lot, but the best example of what the Lord is looking for is found in the Book of Acts - total, collective, earth changing revival - but all leaders were in one accord for that one...

To the list goes: Suffolk, VA... Rocky Mount, VA... San Antonio, TX... Corpus Christi, TX...

Ah, the news isn't all bad. There were several other places that received it and the Lord moved, and is moving in a wonderful way. Among those I'll call out Northern Ireland. They are hungry, and many are qualified; there are a few leaders that haven't gotten onboard yet and the Lord is waiting to see if he is going to have to replace them. Stay hungry NI, the Lord really wants to move among you and bring tremendous blessing; if you stay hungry, he will move the players around to qualify the place, selah...

The church should take notice, for it is certain that the Lord is... like a great army, we must remain on alert, vigilant, prepared for battle at any moment; oh, and one more tip, when the Lord Himself, or His representative shows up for an inspection of the place, better be ready or you might find yourself dis-qualified for His Move... Selah

On Assignment

2011-05-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

Here I am, in the heart of Texas, on assignment from Heaven. Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, been real busy adjusting to my new assignment, and my new life with my new wife (what a blessing she is to me - more on that later). I don't think its permanent, but for now this is where the Lord has me (us).

First a few observations. The circumstances that brought me here will be discussed over the course of time, as they are too many and detailed and amazing to post in such a short posting. Second, this place is really dry - 47% of the land mass of Texas is in the category of 'exceptional drought'. That is really bad. Each new day is hot, generally windy and dry; as opposed to my 2.5 week assignment in Northern Ireland last November where I was freezing my bum off... (haha).

I've also noticed over the years that different locations seem to have different problems when it comes to the Kingdom of God. Here in Texas, for the most part, and I've traveled all over this state, the spiritual environment is well matched with the natural. Its very dry - on the surface its hot and windy, two types of the Spirit's moving - but underneath, the fruit it yields is pure dryness. This creates an environment where life cannot be sustained without some very tricky maneuvers. Many trust in their ability to store up the rain of the past, but can't seem to gather fresh revelation (that is relevent) if their lives depended on it.

This makes me sad in my spirit. I was just reflecting on the sacrifices of those who served and/or died to bring about our Nation for the memorial day holiday. Then, it hit me, where are those who are serving/dieing to bring life into their communities here? Oh, yeah, many of them go to church, just like anywhere else in our country, but by and large its mostly a show - either a show of 'commitment' or a show like a 'movie show' - but the substance is lacking. Most rely on their own natural strength and mind to do lots of good things, but the end result is still dryness of the spirit.

Lord, like many other places in our world, this place needs a move of your Spirit.!!!

I posted a basic revelation on my facebook account a few weeks ago and wanted to mention it here. Theory and Theology are worthless to people if they can't be proven, right here, in the real world; tangible, practical, real - Jesus confirms this with His prayer, "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done, On Earth as in Heaven".!

We have learned in recent years that it is entirely possible to see the miraculous power of the Spirit of the Living God in this lifetime, in our communities, and in our lives. There is however, a basic problem, we cannot rely upon ourselves, but must press into a life of living and moving with His Spirit, walking with Him, relating with Him, showing forth His Glory in our lives.!

There is always a remnant, and I certainly honor those in this state who are really walking with the Lord. I, unfortunately, have met many since my assignment started here about 9 months ago that pretend to be followers of Jesus, but when the going gets tough, they fail the test consistently. May the Lord move in our midst and deliver us from ourselves. Selah... MM

Where are You.?

2011-03-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to help my brothers and sisters understand a few things about the Kingdom, I have decided to throw a 'basic' principle on the table for consideration. that principle is this, 'to whom much is given, much is required'...

Now, it would stand to reason that to whom much isn't given, much isn't required... I struggled for many years not really understanding why so many who attend church don't really grow much; year after year, same old struggles, same old mindset, not much real spiritual growth or maturity... As I've gotten older, I began to realize that we are all only really responsible for what we know with regard to the Word of God and our personal level of revelation of that Word.

Why do I see this as important? Well, it certainly helps us stop judging each other as much if we understand that not everybody 'knows' what we know. And it really doesn't matter how much we tell them, if they don't get a revelation of it, they really don't get it, and therefore they don't possess it, and therefore they really aren't responsible to walk in it... I know, major run on sentence... ;)

For some reason, folks just decided to go so far and then stop. Some are content attending services period. They want to go no further. I know, for folks like me that is hard to comprehend; Whereas I want to know and understand everything about Him, and therefore the quest and hardships of life have been more difficult than most may experience - for me, its simply worth it to endure the hardships to gain the prize of knowing Him.

I just wanted to present this concept in the hopes that many of us would understand each other better and realize that not everyone wants to endure hardship at this time in their lives, and some do. So lets love each other through whatever choices we make and pray that we all make it; Selah... MM

The Price of Mercy...

2011-03-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

We live in a fallen world and find ourselves conflicted from time to time; desiring to forgive those who trespass against us and show mercy, but when we do the risk is that they will take advantage of us again... For me, I am experiencing a rerun of something I experienced a couple of years ago - forgive I will, but at what cost..?

Some of you may remember Jesusismyfriend.com and the ministry that the Lord created through three of his sons; the power and the wonderful experience that we had, and the ultimate end of the thing as a younger believer named Billy allowed greed and selfish ambition to inform his decision to lock the other two founders of that ministry out - crashing the entire ministry - it never came back to life and is but a shell of itself today, despite efforts to revive it.

About 9 months ago, I was reunited with that brother, as he approached me to ask for assistance with a dream that he had to create a company this time for 'the Kingdom'. I remember thinking, 'well, the last time he did this, his flesh killed it, and I was the one who loved him, forgave him and warned him that he was going to the woodshed for a good spanking from the Father of lights, who loves us and corrects us when we do stupid things'. He did go to that woodshed, fell in sin with a sister in the Lord, had an illegitimate child out of wedlock, and now has a permanent reminder of his mistake - the Lord always creates an opportunity when we fail for us to experience even greater goodness if we will but humble ourselves and learn the lessons - his child is beautiful, but he can't see her because of his childish approach to life and irresponsible behavior, which has caused division to the point where the girl won't let him be a part of her life - the reality is that if he would seek the Lord and get that part of himself fixed, he would have the opportunity to be a wonderful part of that child's life in the appropriate time and experience a wonderful restoration... Selah

So here I am again, having poured 9 months of my life into this guys 'dream', with the promise of getting paid once the 'dream' was brought to life. Wrapped in the language of the church, Jesus this and Jesus that, he advanced his agenda with me in the lead. And... once again, he has crapped the bed, and involved others, including a Pastor whom I once respected, in his deceitfulness and found a way to accuse me of commiting a crime in Texas to cut me out of the ownership stake I had in the company that I worked so hard to create for him. Its an exact rerun of the Jesusismyfriend.com situation of a couple of years ago - down to the last details of the method and exactly how it happened last time. Apparently, that demon spirit that influences him never really got dealt with afterall - my mistake, thinking that the folks he was working with had the spiritual horsepower to reign him in and make it all workable.

I've asked the Lord to help me understand this dilemma in the church. We are commanded to forgive and show mercy, even if it works to hurt us and wound us in the process. He will again go to the woodshed for a good spanking from the Lord, but this time it will be much worse than last time. The woman whom he involved and who was the chief deceiver of the group, will either end up in jail, or dead - nevertheless, her chance at the prosperity she so desperately wanted, crushed by her own pride and greed. The Pastor, who was enchanted by the possibility of planting healing centers all over the world - well, there is the rub. His ministry is now on hold, he gave into his own selfish ambitions and greeds as well, used his position to open doors in the name of Jesus and participated in my illegitimate extrication from my own company; but he is an older fella who has paid a price for the Lord during his life - he will probably get a second chance after a major dealing for falling into this trap. Its all so sad, and unnecessary folks.

Just so you know, as I did the last time, I spent a lot of time and energy, once I figured out it was going to happen again, trying to contact these folks and get them to change their direction. I begged them to listen to reason, humbly trying to speak to them in an effort to keep them from this destructive path - all to no avail, no humility in them to listen to the prophet's warning.

What have we become? Are we so ambitious and greedy, that when we sense the promise of big things, we toss our humility and common sense out the window? Do we think that the Lord doesn't see what we are doing. 1 Chronicles 16:22 - 'Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm' - these guys forgot who they were and who I was in Jesus. Because we are Kingdom minded people, we are not greedy and any selfish ambition was killed a long time ago - yet, our brothers and sisters work us like Hebrew slaves, don't pay us, and then toss us aside like a used dish rag. Welcome to the family folks - this is the way many of you are treating your brothers and sisters in this day. Many of you use the Kingdom concepts and language to disguise your real motives, and they are selfish and dangerous to the Kingdom.

These folks are in for a rude awakening and their lives are in the process of entering the dealing of the Lord, and its going to be real ugly for them for awhile - we love them, forgive them and extend mercy to them, mainly for our benefit - as many times as I've experienced this with brothers and sisters in the Lord, it always saddens me - but I really do understand; this is 'THE PRICE OF MERCY'... Selah

Evidence...

2011-01-28T19:25:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here thinking why do we have 'Christian' television channels and networks? Why do we have special affiliations that are designated 'Christian' entities? Why do we feel that we need to set aside all of these special expressoins of our faith and our claims..? And why do we make the claims that we make in and among those special avenues of expression, mainly to each other but have such a hard time getting anybody outside our little (well, really very big) community to take notice..?

Let me suggest that the early church looked upon the behavior patterns of the pharisees and the scribes and decided early on not to follow their examples; their patterns of synagogue worship, their secret society of 'special people'... They decided rather to pursue headlong the reality of the Kingdom of God into real life. On the day of Pentecost, they were filled with the Holy Ghost and Fire and they didn't broadcast it secretly among those who attended synagogue, but they spilled out into the streets and caused mass chaos among those in the city of Jerusalem. They were loud, they were boistrous, they were accused of being drunk and obnoxious and they shook that place in God..! Get the picture..?

Let me tell you what the Lord showed me today. Our boasting and testifying of and among ourselves is, well, ahhh, ok I guess..? It is very limited, it is reflective of our small mindset and isn't reflective at all of the largeness and bigness and hugeness (are those all real words, ha) of our God. He showed me a greater body of evidence that we should be shooting toward; like our brethren in the early church.

The day is coming when it will be reported in the secular media; a man in such and such a place has raised a man from such and such a place from the dead today and he is happy... ;) A woman from this city has prayed for 20 ladies in the last week and they were all healed and came out of their wheelchairs. A small group from this community went to a hosptial here locally and every person in the building at the time was healed instantly, and the Doctors are awaiting the next wave - in the mean time they are taking a break from their long hours and are resting.

When our generation begins to experience that, I would suggest that we will have finally figured out that our God is vast and awesome..! And we don't need to form our own little special communities, but He expects us to rush headlong into our communities and cause CHAOS to the kingdom of darkness..! When our exploits are published in the secular media on a regular basis and all the Glory is truly given to the Lord Jesus, maybe then we will be accused as the early church was "and they said of them that they had turned the whole world upside down" while serving the Lord Jesus Christ..!!!!! What is happening in Egypt today is nothing - its mans (and thereby the kingdom of darkness is behind it) way of making a show and causing destructive chaos - the Lord wants to cause CONSTRUCTIVE CHAOS and he will show himself strong if we will get bold..!

Lets cast off the limits of our thinking and begin to lift up our eyes and significantly increase our vision of who it is that we serve and lets get so bold that we force the world to acknowledge the reality of Jesus..!!!! The miraculous, the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost - FAVORS THE BOLD..!!!! Selah MM

What's in a Name..?

2010-12-28T17:17:00.000-08:00

Character and Integrity matter. We should really believe what we say we believe. I think most would agree with that statement, at least when asked they would respond relatively quickly with a word of agreement; problem is, most won't agree with their lifestyles.

We've become a people of words without the requisite 'life' to back it up. One of my friends over at www.ragingrev.com is one example I can think of. He is called by the name 'Atheist', is passionate about what he believes, and his lifestyle aligns really well with his belief system - funny thing is, I could argue that he is a better 'Christian' than most I know... Hmmm, this leaves us with a dilemma of sorts - very few that I know these days have a lifestyle that aligns with their true selves, but they all think that it does. I heard a smart guy say this one time, "as people, we are more rationalizing than rational". Selah

How may times have we seen "Christians" rise up and get real vocal about something that they 'believe' should or shouldn't be, but then some sneaky little circumstance (e.g. like hey, this could mean that you might be able to make some money, don't be too upset) comes along, and all of a sudden, they change their position; not that that in itself isn't bad enough, but I can't tell you how many I've seen over the years reverse their position on something and claim that its the blessing or provision of the Lord for them all of a sudden when they see that it could benefit them somehow (sorry for run on sentence, haha). Gee, what happened to what you believed..?

Look, I get it, life happens. So I suppose I could ask the question, like for real, do any of us really know what we believe? What convictions do we carry that are real? I'm curious and would really like to hear some feedback from you dear reader. If you give me a short list of things you would die for, what would they be - or is life really all about compromises based on our own vested interests and selfish approach to life itself? Is life really all about 'life in the moment'?

In churches all across the world, visitors come along and charge us up by preaching awesome insights into God's word, sometimes they shake us up, motivate us or even lead us by the hand to show us how to do stuff (like love people), we get excited, then they leave and we go back to status quo. Was it all a show? Were we acting in some universal production in life to somehow try and convince ourselves that we really aren't what we know we are? Why is it so hard to be who we are? Why is it so hard to be real with ourselves?

I've been through 4 years of Hell, and I am emerging with a very simple, yet powerful sense of what I really believe, and would die for; how about you - I can honestly say that while I may have made the claims prior to my years of suffering, looking back, I was just like everybody else; had all the answers to life, but no real depth of soul or spirit. Double minded like the rest of the folks and unstable in all my ways, because I would do, or answer what was convenient in the moment - like working, a workaholic, while trying to convince myself that I was building something that would pay off in the long run. Yeah, in the meantime I was missing out on time, time with my kids and my wife (who left me after 21 years). I wasn't really building anything that had any legs under it; rather, I was building something that was temporary, and when life's trials came along, it all crashed.

Its OK, I can be brutally honest about my life now - I have become comfortable with the 'raw-ness' of life and have learned to like it there. On the bleeding edge of reality, for this is what true life is all about. Not hiding my head in the sand of life, but keeping my head up and taking note of everything around me. Noticing the unseemly, seeing the good, the bad and the ugly, and yet embracing it for what it is. Its a sense of freedom like its hard to explain; but its real, I love it..!

Life moves along too fast; I was just remarking the other day that I can't even remember my thirties, they just flew by soooo fast. When you get older, do you want to discover what a waste so much of your life was? Then here is some advice, get real, or don't play... ;)

The Tale of Two Nations...

2010-12-19T20:30:00.000-08:00

I am fully persuaded, that there exists within our borders, two nations of people - some that subscribe to the founding father's perspective of this country, and the others that subscribe to what they have tried to turn it into...

On that note; I have noticed that there exists within the church world, two churches - or two variants of church - those that really know the Master, and those that have the outward appearance like they do, but they really don't...

Matthew 7:
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity

I have found over the last few years, a real separation within the church emerging. So many have left husbands and wives, divorcing and declaring that the Lord told them to do it - I would point to Matt 7, but he that doeth the will of my father - gee let me think - the Lord hates divorce according to His Word... And there are many other examples and types of this "two-nation thing' going on all over the world...

I have seen some who call themselves ministers of the Gospel - one in particular, who wrote a book and is trying to ride upon the marketing of WWJD - with WJD - or would Jesus discriminate - declaring that homosexuality should be embraced by the church and not disciriminated against...

They look like us, they talk like us, they even appear to be like us - but they ain't - to use some redneck vernacular..! Haha - they ain't us. They don't know him, no matter what cool words they may come up with - we need to recognize that there are two groups within most churches in the world at this point -those who know him, and those who don't.

Why am I saying this, because those who don't are trying to creep in and hijack the real, the authentic, the genuine, and pervert it by mixing in the false, the fake, the copy. Let's continue to pray and seek for discernment folks; we are in the middle of an all out assault on our lives, our spiritual lives and let's not get tricked into buying their goods just because they look and sound like us - they are not us..! Selah

The Curse of Small Thinking...

2010-12-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm back from a little break that was badly needed... but I'll get right to it.

I've seen a dynamic in the Church that is frighteningly dangerous - what passes for wisdom is many times just fear..! The curse of a mind that is scripted and programmed to think 'small'. Some have referred to it as a scarcity mentality.

The visionary pastor who presents his disciples with great opportunities that he clearly sees only to be shot down by the vision-less, fearful influencers within a body of believers that gives a voice of doubt and claims all the reasons why it can't work. Its a sad tragedy that is played out every day among believers (funny how they are called believers, but don't believe...). It manifests in small discussions and large; among the rich and the poor and seems to lurk in the shadows as a killer of all good ideas. Sometimes it shows up as criticizm that appears intelligent on the surface, but when exposed for what it really is, the fruit of the thing shows its ugliness by creating offenses; damaging unity among the saints.

The devil has used many of the same methods for all time; 'hath God said' - remember the garden of Eden? While we the church, wrestle with all the reasons why a thing can't be done, the lost are dying and going straight to hell because we can't seem to decide what we are going to do; rather than finding a solution and discovering ways to actually go do the great things the Lord shows us, we invest our time convincing ourselves why we shouldn't.

Religiosity contributes a significant portion of its substance to undermining abundance; while it tacks on its tax of rules and regulations and questions every good idea that comes along, the churches influence in the earth continues to diminish.

The Lord is not like that..! He is a God of abundance (there is plenty for everybody), he is a God of the impossible and he challenges his people daily to believe for the impossible to come to life! How dare we let our own fears and pride keep us from stepping into the adventure that he has destined for us; how dare we make this whole thing about us and not about Him..! How dare we allow our own demons to keep us from harvesting the lost souls who are begging for someone with guts, someone with vision, someone with hope and power to represent the Lord Jesus Christ in the earth and deliver them into the Kingdom of God..!

That is where I live, that is what I see, it is my experience these days... I so desperately want the church to come into it; while I have compassion on those who struggle with it (as I once did), it also makes me angry to see the selfishness of it all keep the church from becoming what it is destined to become. Robbing the Lord of the Glory that is due him, and keeping slaves, slaves..! Our life is not our own; lest we forget, no servant is greater than his Master.

Jump in church, He is calling us to greatness; His vision is exponentially more magnificent and sizable than what most of us are willing to imagine, and yet he calls us to participate. Live..!!!!!!!!!!

Out of the Mouth of Babes... Sort of...

2010-07-27T17:48:00.001-07:00

From a law student, credits are at the bottom of the letter:

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:
...
We have stuck together since the late 1950's for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course.

Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

Here is a model separation agreement:

Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.
We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. We'll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar and bio-diesel. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.
We'll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless, homeboys, hippies, druggies and illegal aliens. We'll keep the Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's and rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .
You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.
We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N. but we will no longer be paying the bill.
We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks and over-sized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.
You can give everyone health-care if you can find any practicing doctors. We'll continue to believe health-care is a luxury and not a right. We'll keep "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "The National Anthem." I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine", "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", "Kum Ba Ya" or "We Are the World".
We'll practice trickle down economics and you can continue to give trickle up poverty your best shot.
Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our flag.
Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like-minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you answer which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

Sincerely, John J. Wall Law Student and an American
P. S. Also, please take Ted Turner, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Barbara Streisand, & Jane Fonda with you.
P. S. S. And you won't have to press 1 for English when you call our country.

The Gas Can Preacher...

2010-07-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

Straight from the too stupid to believe its' true file... haha

The Gas Can Preacher, an elder but eccentric fella; been preaching to folks for quite a long time in the local area of southwestern Virginia, was recently arrested and held in the Lynchburg, VA mental hospital for refusing to reject his belief that he hears the voice of God...

So, how did all this happen, especially in "Jerry Falwell" country..?

This man has been carrying a gas can for as long as folks in these parts can remember. He believes in simple living and therefore doesn't own a car; rather, he relies upon the goodness of others to get him around from place to place. Enter the gas can, he uses it to help those who help him - seems its a lot cheaper to travel this way and it gives him the opportunity to meet and minister to others by cheering them up, or encouraging them in their daily path as he travels around and carries out his daily activities...

Apparently a couple of weeks ago, he contacted the good folks at the medicare office and was trying to set up an appointment; the person that answered the phone (imagine this) was from a different country and had a very strong accent. As they were talking, he mentioned that he would be along shortly and would be carrying his gas can with him so they would know that is how he traveled around.

Now, it gets interesting. She apparently didn't understand what he said, instead perceived that he was threatening to blow the place up and called the authorities; who dutifully met him at the front door with the bomb squad in tow. They arrested him and took away his gas can, charging him with attempting to blow up a federal facility... Oh, its gets even more ridiculous, just follow...

Somehow, the details are a little sketchy here, he was contacted by the Veterans Affairs Hospital folks, being a veteran, who asked for him to come over and be evaluated by their psychological folks and the police cooperated. He shows up, they ask him a bunch of silly questions about why he wanted to blow up the federal building, he denies that he ever said anything stupid like that and tried to explain his gas can. He got so frustrated that they weren't listening, so he excused himself and left - returning to his home in total disgust...

Well, there were apparently three officers waiting for him there who having heard about his hasty departure from the VA mental center, quickly transported him to the Mental Hospital in Lynchburg to have him admitted, claiming he was a dangerous criminal.

Now, it was over a week before he was allowed to tell anybody that all this was happening. Finally, he gets word out to a pastor friend, who goes to visit him and discovers this astounding and terrifying story first hand. He tells the pastor they won't let him go until he rejects the notion that he hears from God, and this false notion of an unseen God whom he claims to have a relationship with - and they are claiming he is the crazy one... geez...

So he is now stuck in this facility while the standoff continues...

So let me get this straight (and this is what America is coming to); a woman who works for the government, who can't speak or understand our language or culture, feels threatened by something she can't understand reports this innocent and harmless traveling preacher to authorities who automatically don't buy his story about this gas can that he has traveled with for decades around the local, more rural areas of Virginia - the city folks just can't get their brains around this so they put this poor guy through psychological hell while they take a stand against his religious beliefs and refuse to let him back into society until he is 'made better' by the nut cases that are running this whole circus act...

If you're an American, you should be offended by this..! How many 'traveling preachers' have laced our history folks..? How many communities or individuals would claim that guys like this had a life changing and positive influence on their lives throughout the course of American history..?

This whole 'terrorist' thing is spinning out of control ya'll - when a simple, yet eccentric older man, who makes his way around and is very well known in his area of the country, trespasses into what has become 'occupied territory' by foreigners who turn him in to 'authorities' because he 'hears voices' - yeah, you got it... Welcome to modern day American Christianity - me thinks we are in trouble... MM

Quoting the Bishop...

2010-06-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

Quoting Bishop Hughes of the IPCC... Brilliant, just brilliant... MM

" America has been arrogant." - President barack obama

"After 9/11, America didn't always live up to her ideals."- President barack obama

"You might say that America is a Muslim nation."- President barack obama, Egypt 2009... See More

Thinking about these and other statements made by the man who wears the title of president. I keep wondering what country he believes he's president of.

In one of my very favorite stories, Edward Everett Hale's "The Man without a Country," a young Army lieutenant named Philip Nolan stands condemned for treason during the Revolutionary War, having come under the influence of Aaron Burr. When the judge asks him if he wishes to say anything before sentence is passed, young Nolan defiantly exclaims, "Damn the United States ! I wish I might never hear of the United States again!"

The stunned silence in the courtroom is palpable, pulsing. After a long pause, the judge soberly says to the angry lieutenant: "You have just pronounced your own sentence. You will never hear of the United States again.. I sentence you to spend the rest of your life at sea, on one or another of this country's naval vessels - under strict orders that no one will ever speak to you again about the country you have just cursed."

And so it was. Philip Nolan was taken away and spent the next 40 years at sea, never hearing anything but an occasional slip of the tongue about America. The last few pages of the story, recounting Nolan's dying hours in his small stateroom - now turned into a shrine to the country he fore swore - never fail to bring me to tears. And I find my own love for this dream, this miracle called America , refreshed and renewed. I know how blessed and unique we are.

But reading and hearing the audacious, shocking statements of the man who was recently elected our president - a young black man living the impossible dream of millions of young Americans, past and present, black and white - I want to ask him, "Just what country do you think you're president of?"

You surely can't be referring to the United States of America, can you? America is emphatically a Christian nation, and has been from its inception! Seventy percent of her citizens identify themselves as Christian. The Declaration of Independence and our Constitution were framed, written and ratified by Christians. It's because this was, and is, a nation built on and guided by Judeo-Christian biblical principles that you, sir, have had the inestimable privilege of being elected her president.

You studied law at Harvard, didn't you, sir? You taught constitutional law in Chicago? Did you not ever read the statement of John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and an author of the landmark "Federalist Papers": " Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers - and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation - to select and prefer Christians for their rulers"?

In your studies, you surely must have read the decision of the Supreme Court in 1892: "Our lives and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it should be otherwise; and in this sense and to this extent our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian."

Did your professors have you skip over all the high-court decisions right up till the mid 1900's that echoed and reinforced these views and intentions? Did you pick up the history of American jurisprudence only in 1947, when for the first time a phrase coined by Thomas Jefferson about a "wall of separation between church and state" was used to deny some specific religious expression - contrary to Jefferson' s intent with that statement?

Or, wait a minute . were your ideas about America's Christianity formed during the 20 years you were a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ under your pastor, Jeremiah Wright? Is that where you got the idea that " America is no longer a Christian nation"? Is this where you, even as you came to call yourself a Christian, formed the belief that "America has been arrogant"?

Even if that's the understandable explanation of your damning of your country and accusing the whole nation (not just a few military officials trying their best to keep more Americans from being murdered by jihadists) of "not always living up to her ideals," how did you come up with the ridiculous, alarming notion that we might be "considered a Muslim nation"?

Is it because there are some 2 million or more Muslims living here, trying to be good Americans? Out of a current population of over 300 million, 70 percent of whom are Christians? Does that make us, by any rational definition, a "Muslim nation"?

Why are we not, then, a "Chinese nation"? A "Korean nation"? Even a "Vietnamese nation"? There are even more of these distinct groups in America than Muslims. And if the distinction you're trying to make is a religious one, why is America not "a Jewish nation"? There's actually a case to be made for the latter, because our Constitution - and the success of our Revolution and founding - owe a deep debt to our Jewish brothers.

Have you stopped to think what an actual Muslim America would be like? Have you ever really spent much time in Iran? Even in Egypt? You, having been instructed in Islam as a kid at a Muslim school in Indonesia and saying you still love the call to evening prayers, can surely picture our nation founded on the Quran, not the Judeo-Christian Bible, and living under Shariah law. Can't you? You do recall Muhammad's directives [Surah 9:5,73] to "break the cross" and "kill the infidel"?

It seems increasingly and painfully obvious that you are more influenced by your upbringing and questionable education than most suspected.. If you consider yourself the president of a people who are "no longer Christian," who have "failed to live up to our ideals," who "have been arrogant," and might even be "considered Muslim" - you are president of a country most Americans don't recognize.

Could it be you are a president without a country?

Still Think I'm Crazy, or in a Cult..?

2010-06-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Eat this for lunch all of you who still think this is all coincidence...

As I wrote about in this blog back in March and when the oil spill happened I reiterated - my hope is that all the greedy ones in high positions of power will repent quickly and recognize that there is a living God who sets the standards high and stop thinking that you are all Gods - you're not..! Selah..! MM

What is a Palestinian..?

2010-06-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

We here a lot of buzz these days about splitting Israel and the other territories into two succinct nations; one called Israel, and one called Palestine - and of course there is all the media coverage of the plight of the "Palestinian" people; Gaza, Hamas, yada, yada, yada...

So I thought I would take a moment and clarify a few points for all of you who are stupid enough to believe all this ridiculous (substitute word for male bovine poo...) :)

A real Palestinian is a Jew..! Haha, that blew some of you away didn't it - hello, why isn't anybody doing any research, or at least remembering 'real history'..? Simple, because demon possessed knuckleheads like Yasir Arafat among others convinced the world that there was an alleged nation called Palestine, that there was an oppressed people called Palestinians, and that the Jews (nation of Israel) had somehow infringed upon their land...

None of this is true - the term originated during and after WWI as the civilized world wrestled with what to do with the dying Ottoman Empire which had caused problems during the first World War for the allies, and after a victory, "The Palestine Mandate" was created, creating a territory - a very large territory, to be split between a middle eastern sharif (who ended up with what could rightfully be called Saudi Arabia today (and surrounding territories), and Palestine, a home for the Jews...

So where do these impostors come from and why are there so many - easy, 1948 saw the next step of instantiating the Jewish nation of Israel by reinforcing what was started in 1915 - an official, recognizable and legal "Nation" that was part of the recognized 'Nations' in the earth - the muslims on the other hand, had already begun to strategize their own plan to reconstitute their Caliphate - which didn't recognize the British/European/American alliances decision to give that land to Israel and they began invading the territory to try and settle it - when 1948 got here, the Israelis had to really get violent to take what was rightfully theirs back from these squatters...

Fast forward to our time - as it is in the earth, over the course of time, media coverage, influence, literature and twisting history; we end up with what we've got today...

Making it simple; true Palestinians are Jews - there is no such thing as the nation of Palestine and the squatters that have grown in numbers exponentially over the years and caused all these problems should be expelled from what rightfully belongs to Israel post haste - If I were in charge I would probably militarily expel them or kill them - I know, it sounds harsh, but honestly - that is the nature of the thing for real...

My take: don't believe our Government leaders who are in cahoots with the muslim opposition and are siding with the impostors who have convinced the world that they have some right to exist and be called by a name that doesn't belong to them - maybe our leaders are impostors as well - there is a thought... haha ;)

Think about what I said here folks, things aren't as they seem at all in the world today; maybe we should do something about that - what do you think - lets free as many minds as we can and at least set the historical record straight - so much emotion and passion around this subject by so many that are too lazy to research or too stupid to know any better - sorry for the 'harsh' words - I guess truth is 'harsh' these days... :)

We've all been duped, too bad... MM

Illusions...

2010-06-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

We are a society of illusions; games, bait & switch, false advertising, hidden motives, moving targets, changing rules and struggles for achievement that inspire so many to carryout behaviors and say things that create mystery and ultimately destruction...

Do we like mystery; is that why we put up with so much of this..? Do we like the games, the cat and mouse, the challenge of discovery and the great reveal at the end..?

Take the current oil spill for example... Everyone still believes that our government, BP and other power players are worried about it and its effect on our many-layered world... They could have stopped it within days of it occurring, but they didn't want to - ever wonder about that..? They didn't want to because their greed for money and lust for power drove them to try tactics to try and capture it, even to the detriment of all the lives that it has effected - but the public relations strategies that they all employed seemed to have worked pretty well for the most part wouldn't you agree..? Do you still believe them..?

Most of these folks have been told for many years that the culture and structure of the offshore oil and natural gas complex would eventually have caused all this - but they covered it all up and pretended that day would never come; intoxicated by the profits and power that it gave them all while the church participated and watched it all happen before them... Hmmm, many of the players in that game would claim to be members of the church... "Christians"... hmmm, our brothers and sisters caught up in a game of power, politics, greed and many of them knew the risks - how many are still playing those games in other venues, other scenarios..?

How do I know these things..? We had this discussion almost 4 years ago when I warned them about the lawlessness that reigned supreme in the offshore environment. They didn't want to listen then and let me go - since then we've seen some amazing things come to light about government kickbacks, payoffs, favors and the limited oversight of that industry - letting an industry self-govern as they used to say; they can regulate themselves they used to say and now we can see the stupidity in that one can't we - we've seen many get rich off of it - while we all just sat by and let it happen...

I have grave concerns that this type of thinking and behavior has hijacked many in the church. So many are given to greed, lust, selfish ambition; calling it 'blessing' but the fruit of it bears no resemblance to true integrity or pure character. I am concerned that so many have given into the allure of riches, power, comfort and the promise of peace that it brings and have forsaken the call to follow Jesus... The fruit of the Spirit bearing witness to what is really on the inside of a man...

We will probably see many more things happening around us that have a variety of mysterious stories behind them; folks wondering why things are happening they way they are..? We must have discernment in these days we are living in and not be duped into cashing in our moral character for temporary comfort or wordly riches - we must hold up the standard given to us by the Lord, for there are no others on the planet that are called to do so... Selah

Clouds Without Rain...

2010-06-01T16:39:00.000-07:00

We are living in strange times indeed - so many are confessing to know the Lord Jesus Christ; some even quote his word on occasion and profess to embrace "The Word" as their baseline for life and decision making, including some who are in positions of governing power - and yet, their decisions and lifestyles are in stark contradiction to 'The Word' - what is this..?

This is strange to me and a bit frustrating; its as if they are mocking the Lord in a weird sort of fashion that at first comes across as genuine, but then that sinking feeling begins to emerge in the pit of your stomach as you realize that what they are doing is at its core a true mockery of the Lord...

That is why we must learn to be 'fruit inspectors' - what a person is will manifest in their lives; no matter what they say or how 'learned' they may sound with their words, the fruit of their lives never lies...

This walk is about dwelling in the Secret Place of the Most High; its about intimate, powerful relationship with a Living and Real God who made the path available for a real experience that lasts forever - it is in complete opposition to the "Religious Ridiculousness" that has so invaded our society..!

Some examples:

You will never convince me that the Lord lead you to abandon your family, divorce your Godly husband or wife, and bring havoc to your family - the Bible disagrees with you; no matter how many times you tell yourself that its all good - and frankly, no matter how many 'ministers of the Gospel' tell you that you are OK and that it is all good - you've breached the holy covenant of marriage as defined by 'The Word' - you are an adulterer, a liar and your life is a mockery - without repentance, your salvation is questionable - Selah..!

You cannot convince me that you put your trust in 'The Word' for guidance in your lives and then as a legislator vote to kill innocent babies while they are still in the womb. The Bible disagrees with you; no matter how many accolades you get from those who worship at your feet and blow kisses of deceit your way - you are a rebel, a murderer and a thief - the fruit of your decisions betrays what is really in your heart, no matter what your mouth may say - you are on your way to Hell...

You cannot convince me that you have your life together and that you're in right standing with the Lord because you attend 'church services', but during the week you sit on the bench systematically destroying families; the very foundation of our society - Your judgments are not valid and won't stand the test of time - the Lord himself will intervene and reverse your decisions against his holy ones. You think you occupy a position of power in our society, but the destruction you brought to all those families will cause you to reap a whirlwind of destruction in your "Personal Life" - you will be judged by the very same measure of destruction that you mete out to those you brought destruction to - its a very natural byproduct of your inability to judge righteous judgment.

What most people don't get is that 'judgment' is just as natural to mankind as breath - its the mercy of the Lord that holds off judgment for as long as he can until those crying out to him night and day for deliverance (including the Earth) attain some threshold determined by him and he moves out of the way and allows it to flow - without repenting and not just saying you're sorry either - real repentance brings with it "FRUIT" - go back to those you destroyed and make them whole - without this, you are destined for destruction - and don't think that you represent the Living God or that by some virtue you are part of His Kingdom - you aren't - and the fruit of your life provides us with evidence...

Now, I am by no means trying to condemn here; just showing some examples that I've seen over the years - we are living in a time when so many profess to know him and follow him; so many use the words to try and assuage and/or gain some political or personal advantage because their motives are selfish - the problems I see emerging are that those that don't know any better are being lead astray; and eventually will begin to disdain the real church and eventually persecute it because what they see is not aligned with "Godliness"...

True Godliness, true discipleship, true love is a beautiful thing indeed. It is attractive, intoxicating, renewing, refreshing and if it is made evident there is nobody on the planet that would turn it down. We must live our lives so the fruit of the Spirit can be born by us and we must stop being so darned politically correct and start calling out the foolishness and exposing it for what it is...

Many Governments in the world now have started calling our value system "Hate Speech" - that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard - what they are doing is hate speech - they just want everybody to go straight to Hell and I can't think of anything more filled with hate than denying the people of our generation the opportunity to avoid an eternity in Hell - they are the haters, not us, so lets make sure we clarify who and what we are and who we serve...

Just to keep the record straight... Selah MM

Blogging...

2010-05-31T18:03:00.000-07:00

There is a move afoot in the halls of our government to re-define the 1st amendment; the right we have had so long to 'free speech' is getting ready to be defined into specific categories that will probably put many blogs and other forms of 'free speech' into a category that will eventually make it an illegal activity.

While I hope that we continue to enjoy this freedom; I am aware of the headaches that these freedoms bring to those who would lust for power to control the population in such a way as to give them free reign to carry out what they are about to carry out...

I just wanted to make you aware of this dear reader, so that if that point comes, and we can no longer share our thoughts via these awesome venues, we intend to continue to do our best to share but will not violate the law of the land either...

Just so ya know... MM

Update...

2010-05-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

In March, I took it in hand to publish a warning that had been stirring in my spirit for awhile; the urgency that I experienced warranted publishing a warning to stop messing with Israel... Many read it; several told me I was stupid - but at the end of the day, I heard from the Lord and I will stand by that conviction...

Unfortunately, I believe that warning was unheeded, and the consequence that I predicted in that posting has started to come to pass... I have shared this with many who I see regularly, but have now thought it prudent to publish an update. When the oil spill happened, the Lord told me that this was a part of what he had showed me back in the beginning of the year. This is that (or at least a part of that) that he showed me and I wrote about it back in March - a natural disaster designed for an intended purpose to accomplish a particular result - like the plagues that assaulted Egypt of old while Pharaoh continued to harden his heart, until we relent of our foolishness, we will continue to be assaulted for our abandonment of Israel...

This thing was sent to bring death - death to life in the Gulf of Mexico (the seat of power for many of our current Government and Economic Leaders), death to another part of our economy, tourism, food, and offshore industry among others, which has been under assault for some time now (due to poor decision making on the part of our Government and Economic Leaders) and death to the environment that surrounds us all; the very maritime environment that we've looked to to protect us for so long from all those enemies that have desired to assault us but have been for so long held off by a great ocean that has made it all but impossible to strike harm to us...

Our borders will continue to collapse on all fronts, because we put our trust in them - our leaders will continue to run around confused because they put their trust in their education, their ability to manipulate others, and their greed for power - nowhere is this becoming more evident than in the court system - as we pervert justice, we will experience the fruit of that endeavor.

It seemed the Lord allowed us a very long season in hopes that we would turn away from this path of evil; but when we broke our resolve to ally ourselves with and support Israel, it was the straw the broke the proverbial "Camel's Back" - as we abandoned our spiritual mandate to facilitate the Kingdom of God in the earth and chose rather to so recklessly pursue our lust for gold, glory, power and selfish pleasures...

I'm sorry it sounds so hard folks, but it is what it is - things will not get better for us at this point; and frankly I fear that we have passed the point of no return... We must as Christians and our Jewish brothers - we must begin to prepare for the all but totally predictable persecution that will inevitably come our way, sooner rather than later I suspect...

Be wise brothers and sisters; wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove - I would advise us all to humble ourselves and pray as if our lives depended on it, because they do... We need the Lord to unscramble these eggs because we just can't - I would again recommend that we all stop living the illusion that things will get better and go back to the way they were before all this started happening; it won't...

I would challenge all of us to start living like they were in the Book of Acts time period, for that type of season is upon us - there will be great opportunities right now to harvest the lost and do great exploits in the name of the Lord, then the tide will turn and the persecution will heat up and we won't be able to rely upon the systems of this world to take care of us; but rather need to begin walking with the Lord now - walking with him in a way where he becomes our source for everything; health, provision, wisdom, strength, direction, problem solving, miracles, etc...

I share these thoughts and insights with great conviction and confidence that what I've written in these blogs will come to pass as the Lord showed them to me - for those of you tracking the events in the earth, you should be watching daily for we know what is on the horizon...

God bless, MM

My New Favorite Video... ;)

2010-05-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

Man, can I relate to this...

On Corruption...

2010-05-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

"Neither the Wisest Constitution nor the Wisest Laws will secure the Liberty and Happiness of a people whose manners are Universally Corrupt..!"

Samuel Adams (Founding Father)

Come to Me..!

2010-05-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

During a prayer time that we had at our church (we meet every morning at 8:00 am for prayer), the Lord opened up a new pathway of understanding to us - here Mike tries to share the essence of that revelation...

Its so awesome and the Lord has been meeting us - I challenge you to take this and incorporate it into your daily life... MM

Do as I say..?

2010-05-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

In recent days our civil leaders have been busy in the press asking American citizens and those that oppose their decisions to 'tone it down on anti-government rhetoric'...

Allegedly, in a democracy (which America isn't - its a Republic, study your old Government books), we are the Government... Hmmm, this is interesting to me - the whole idea of putting the responsibility for results on somebody Else's shoulders - the idea, that somehow if we will all just do as we are told, everything will be 'OK'...

Leaders "NEVER" (repeat "NEVER") blame others for results - they don't practice 'do as I say, not as I do' behaviors - when they do, they relinquish their leadership to whomever is to blame for results; why..? Because LEADERS OWN RESULTS - PERIOD...........................................!

The church has been following this model for years - and we've seen the results that it has produced; a wimpy, spineless, comfortable, apathetic nation of people who have become so ineffective in the earth, it reminds me of the Lord's desire years ago to completely wipe out the nation of Israel during Moses' day...

Church leaders founded America, not secular lunatics... Currently, we've turned over the controls of the nation to lunatics - unqualified, uneducated, undeserving and completely incapable people (not all of them, but many) who have no idea what leadership is. They wouldn't recognize truth if it walked up to them and slapped them in the head..!

Frankly, they don't know what America is or what to do with it now that they are in control of it. If left to their own devices and given more time, they will destroy this nation..! Period..! There once was a day, and not really that long ago, where if you weren't a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, you wouldn't be considered an American Citizen...

Back to my point - when you see these behaviors, remember, leaders don't blame others for the results that they get - don't be fooled by all the foolish rhetoric that you read in the news - our nation is in desperate need of real leadership, Godly leadership, right now, not years from now...

Does the church have that capability within its walls..? Not near as much as we need, but I pray the Lord that he will raise up those who can lead... Men that will take responsibility for results and not use the same old lame argument - 'tone it down folks, it might cause problems...' ya think..? Lead, then the problems will go away and stop blaming others for your failures -you know who I'm speaking to..!

May the Lord help us all in these desperate times we are living in; for the record, if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, you are automatically disqualified to lead...! Selah

Thoughts on Leadership...

2010-04-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

Thought number one..? Someone has to go first...

Someone had to be the first disciples - someone had to get filled with the Holy Ghost first on the day of Pentecost... Someone had to preach the first message (Peter)... Someone had to lead...

Someone always has to pay the price to open up a new vein, to blaze a new trail, to introduce a new thought, concept of alternative to status quo... The only thing in this life that is a constant is that we are all in a constant state of "CHANGE" - leaders lead within that change, they don't get swept away by it...

When our current Executive here in America ran for office he ran on a message of 'CHANGE' - most Americans, being the clueless sheeple that they are, bought it and voted for 'CHANGE' - I laugh when I think about it, change happens whether or not we vote for it and by manipulating and schmoozing words this guy enticed the masses to think that what was needed was 'CHANGE' - interesting strategy - but also very revealing, both on a personal level with regards to him, and on a mass level as we gained insights into what the masses believe about life...

We didn't need 'CHANGE', what we needed was a leader who possessed the integrity and wisdom to lead within the natural state of change that we were all experiencing anyways... Anybody can create the appearance of 'CHANGE', but not everybody can lead - 'CHANGE' will happen anyways, leadership won't always happen...

Genuine leaders, always consider the effect of their decisions and actions on others. Genuine leaders aren't moved by popular opinion or polls, but rather their interests lie in pleasing the Lord Jesus Christ and leading a nation, church, tribe or family in ways and paths of righteousness knowing that it will facilitate blessing and kingdom results...

Genuine leaders aren't afraid to expose a thing if exposing it is the right thing to do in order to bring about the right kind of change; and always prefer truth and transparency over relativity and shadows. Genuine leaders understand the cost of doing the right thing even when its unpopular or makes folks feel uncomfortable if its the right thing to do...

Genuine leaders also understand that their lifestyles and actions speak exponentially louder than their words. They lead by their example and they take opportunities to influence where they can without regard to whether or not they get 'credit' for it; whether or not they receive any 'recognition' for it - their reputation is subordinate to the results they are attempting to achieve.

Just some thoughts - Selah... MM

Fiery Trials Getting to you..?

2010-04-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

Fiery trials..? Be encouraged..! Its a good sign..!

America vs. Israel

2010-03-16T08:05:00.000-07:00

I can't think if a more scary title to a news article; but that is exactly what appeared as a news article title on the Fox-news website today.

Our leaders don't get it do they..! Every single time we screw around with the long standing relationship that we have with Israel, and our obligations and duties to ally ourselves with them; primarily due to our covenant relationship that was given to us by the Lord himself many years before any of us were here, something very bad happens in our country... Don't believe it..?

Many have forgotten hurricane Katrina; as the Israeli settlers were on their rooftops being driving out by their own brethren from settlements that were being destroyed due to America's 'intervention' trying to win a peace agreement, our own citizens were on their rooftops fleeing the hurricane's destruction; waiting for helicopters to lift them off their rooftops.

So, here I go again..! Might as well give the standard warning..! Church, prepare yourselves for the next wave of destruction..! Not sure how it will show up at this point, but if the Obama administration continues to screw with Israel, it will show up, and it won't be pretty..!

My advice, if you're living in America, tell his administration to stop doing that; we are getting tired of getting hammered and frankly most American's can't take much more. We've already been depleted of our "American Dream' lifestyles for the most part, and that isn't going to stop getting worse any time soon. We are already a bankrupt nation; skating on the thin ice of financial ruin and illusions of grandeur that will at some point crash. We are already fudging numbers to try and prove that unemployment isn't really that bad 'according to Government numbers", yeah, haha, right...

Need I say more..? We will pay a destructive price in our nation for every bit of damage we do to Israel. They are our brothers and we serve a living God who will not tolerate it..!

Standby for heavy rolls folks, here we go again..! MM

Embrace Jesus..! For Real..!

2010-02-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

Ok, so everybody has to get mad over something - might as well get upset over someone telling the truth in an attempt to make as many as possible free from all the bondages that we put on ourselves - free to live for and serve Jesus without any man made baggage right..? ;)

I got this from the Lord directly a couple of weeks ago at 2:00 in the morning while seeking a strategy from heaven to introduce the Lord Jesus into some cultures overseas, and here in the states that have had way to long to allow the fires of revival to die down over time while instituting all their man made rituals - in effect, structuring Jesus right out of the equation - it was brilliant, so I thought I would do my best to package it up, articulate it carefully, yet firmly and share it with my brothers and sisters - listen with an open mind and heart and you might find yourself liberated; no pressure... ;) MM

We Must All Find Our Own Way...

2010-01-01T12:31:00.001-08:00

As I've been pondering and observing a sort of phenomenon within the church over the past few years, I've come to a conclusion. I'm pretty sure that there will be many that will find my conclusion obvious; others will adamantly disagree, so this should be a good discussion...

There are sooo many church bodies that I personally know that have passed the baton to the next generation - as in, from father to son, for example - just because you are the son or daughter of a preacher, even a very anointed one, doesn't qualify you to be the next 'in line for the throne' sort of thing. Are you following me..?

So far, I haven't really seen one ministry, where the baton was passed to the son that has flourished..! Show me one..! Gee, I don't really see it in scripture either..! Hmmmm, makes me wonder why we do that.

It is true, that every man and woman must find their own way when it comes to relationship with the Lord and they must come into their own anointing and ministry - whether or not their daddy was anointed and used by the Lord. So far, experience seems to suggest that it is a recipe for major failure - the fact is, that many spiritual sons often emerge out of a really anointed ministry that are more often than not, completely overlooked because of personal favoritism toward ones own offspring. How comical to guys like me who know its going to fail, then to watch the effort that goes into trying to make it all work...

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob got it right..! Why..? Because they all had to make their own way in the world and because in their day church structures and formalities (including titles) didn't exist. They actually had to live it if they were going to experience it. Abraham could relate his experiences and insights to his son, but then Isaac had to take that and go do something with it. Had he decided not to, or if he had decided to take over his fathers purpose, it would have failed miserably... Kind of like what we are seeing today in so many ministries...

I heard a comment the other day while attending a meeting at just such a place; a person in the seats said something like this, "man, its so weird isn't it; when its time to pass the baton, what do you do when there is nobody there to take it up..?" He was referring to the obvious lack of anointing, power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost that the 'offspring' were trying to get, that their parents actually had, but now they were struggling to keep the old thing alive because they probably felt there was a duty to do such a thing...

My own experience was that it was very uncomfortable to watch... Can we learn from such things..? Can we palease use some creativity and wisdom in our personal relationship with the Lord and avoid the pitfalls of following such a course for our lives. Its pathetic, really it is to see such a waste of time and life... MM

Will We Measure Up..?

2009-12-27T07:15:00.000-08:00

I've said several times that the Lord told me a while back here "Your generation has the most access to resources, knowledge, insight and my power; will you be the generation that delivers back the least in terms of return on that investment..?"

Since I first published that Word, I've taken the time to put on my observe hat to see how well the Church is using its resources to conduct a world wide harvest of souls, discipleship of those souls and reinvestment of those souls back into the world wide harvest of souls...

Let me ask you some questions my friends. What makes you think that the 'gravy train' is going to continue to run at full speed..? Why would we be given access to great resources when we've managed them so poorly..? How many of us use what we get, whether through our jobs or other means, to facilitate the progression of the Kingdom of God rather than our own comfort..? Do you realize that the 'church experience' in America has become an "Entertainment Industry" that rivals Hollywood..?

I recently ran across a church body that spent over 15 million redesigning and building a new 'church facility' because they didn't like the old one - and now they are building an indoor wave apparatus along with a skate park to 'draw the youth'. What kind of result will come of such efforts; what kind of disciples will be produced - how many missionaries..? It is a predictable result that will perpetuate the waste and abuse of resources that is rampant within the church.

Or how about the 1.2 million that was recently allocated to build a larger meeting room and outdoor overhead to protect the elderly against the rain on a Baptist church locally..! The entire community is in distress economically; yet the church is fortifying itself and demanding comfort, preferring itself above its fellow man...

These stories are exponentially multiplied across the church and across our western world version of church prosperity - its an abomination to heaven..! How many have to die and go to hell while we continue to live the illusion of 'God's blessing'; claiming that we are blessed because we have so much cool stuff, while the world rots..?

Friends, I pray for you regularly that the Lord will have mercy on you and open your eyes and ears so that you will be liberated from such foolishness and that you will still have time to invest in those things that are eternal; where moth and rust can't corrupt. I pray that you and I will measure up in our generation... Selah

In the Kingdom of God, there is greater value in taking care of your brother/sister (rather than judging them because they got themselves into a financial mess), helping them in their time of need than putting a 4000 square foot mansion over the heads of your children..! There is greater reward eternally in feeding that family that is in need than taking your family out to a fancy restaurant..! Smarter to invest in making disciples than making your 'church building' nicer, bigger, prettier...

I have given you but a few examples of wise investing, now you and I are both accountable... Selah... MM

Will You See His Glory..?

2009-12-25T19:56:00.000-08:00

His glory, His presence, His anointing, His Favor, His Power - you get the idea... HIM..!

What is it about some that seem to have such a powerful, fresh, real walk with God and others can't seem to find Him no matter how hard they try, or where they look..?

I was talking with someone today relating the experiences that we've been having in Gretna, VA - how the presence of the Lord has intensified; as in 'open heaven' and that it seems that the Lord is showing up more and more, stronger and stronger as time passes - this person, who actually attended some of the gatherings there mentioned to me that they were completely bored with the whole experience and that they thought I was misrepresenting the whole experience...

Why..?

Same question, different context... How is it that Jesus carried out all the miracles that he did, but so many around him still didn't believe..? He even challenged them by saying "believe me for the miracles I've done if you won't believe my words..." Why do some believe and others don't..? Why can some perceive Him and others can't..?

I would submit to you that there is a common theme; a common denominator that separates those that will go all the way with the Lord, and those who just won't. Remember the rich young ruler..? "Sell all that you have and follow me..." - then he turned around and walked away... Just couldn't bring himself to do it. It was too much, too radical, too risky..!

So what is the common theme..? Are you sure you want to hear this..? I'm giving you fair warning that if you are one that struggles with these things and/or can't seem to come into this experience that I speak of - walking in the Glory of the Lord's real presence - then stop reading, because this piece of truth will eventually bring death to your life...

The common theme is this - you love yourself more than you love Jesus..!

Sounds pretty simple, yet profound at the same time. You attend church services, but your experience with the church or the Lord Jesus is built around what is convenient for you, not Him... You pursue your own selfish ambitions, and contribute to what you perceive to be 'Kingdom' when it benefits you or makes your conscience feel better; but deep in your heart you are scared to death to take any real risks and totally give something of real value to you up - like say your spouse, family, kids, job, career, house, or whatever - I don't give a rip - pick one...

You don't want to know Him enough to willingly give something that is of real value to you away... You find yourself preferring that which is temporary above that which is eternal. You consistently define success around worldly pleasures or worldly values - you are fooling yourself if you think you know the Lord Jesus Christ - that is the harsh reality and I suggest you find a way to remedy that in your life.

The Lord will give you and I mercy; they are renewed every morning. The more I get to know him and understand his mercy, his loving-kindness, his tolerance of our sin and stuff - the more I grow in 'The Fear of The Lord' - I have realized that he will love each of us, every moment of every day; right into the belly of Hell if we choose to go there...

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be turned over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so the soul will be spared; or what it must be like to be allowed to be given over to a reprobate mind..? Keep serving yourself and you may just find out... Selah.

I know this sounds hard, but listen to me and you may save yourselves. The truth is that he is there..! He is and He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. If your heart is right and you really want to know Him, he will be found of you - and he will reward you with the awesomeness of His Mighty, Holy, Wonderful Presence..!

Blessings, MM

Where Does Faith Come From..?

2009-11-21T16:36:00.001-08:00

I'm just wondering - the Bible says that 'Faith cometh by hearing and by hearing the word of God' Romans 10:17 KJV - the Word of God is the only place, the only method and the only possible source of faith.

Some have asked me in the past, can't testimonies build our faith..? I would argue that it is a dangerous proposition to place too much trust, or too much stock into testimonies. What Mike..? Are you kidding..? We overcome by our testimony, yes according to the Book of Revelation. Our testimony is ours, we can share it with others to show the reality of the Lord in our lives, yes. I get all that...

But when you are up against the wall, and you must have a miracle I will say and agree with the Bible; "FAITH COMETH BY HEARING AND BY HEARING THE WORD OF GOD"..! That is where you and I need to put our trust, completely..! It is the only source that we can trust.

I have talked to many of my brothers and sisters over the years and have heard stories of how they questioned God, or stumbled in their belief, or had a difficult time obtaining some promise of God because they heard more testimonies from people that seemed to indicate that sometimes the Lord does things for some, and not for others at other times. It seems, that we have misunderstood the purpose, and yes, even the very substance of the 'testimony'.

Imagine this, I know its hard, but just try... I could easily argue that most who testify - add to it, embellish, interpret, misinterpret, or in some other way, taint the actual experience that they had. While we have all heard and maybe even cried during testimonies, we weren't there, we don't know whether or not the things the person is saying is really true (at least from God's perspective) or not... See where I'm going with this..?

I recently discovered that someone I was very close to for a great many years was recently featured on a well known Christian Broadcasting program - a testimony on TV - knowing the actual truth behind the testimony, I was saddened to discover that their apparent testimony was actually a pretty strong misrepresentation of the actual facts of the situation. There were key components that were left out and that others were harmed by the program. Just using this as an example, not meaning to take shots here - but I'm tired of the church being duped - I'm tired of 'political correctness' in the church - I'm tired of those who do harm and then pretend that the Lord was behind them 'blessing them' and the church just embraces them - we are way too trusting folks... Just getting tired of so much babble and lies and you should be as well...

Listen, I love a good testimony just like everybody else - but I'm not going to draw my faith from them. I'm not going to question the Lord or his willingness, or love for me, or anything else because somebody else did and got away with it. I'm in no position to judge unrighteous judgment, but I will say that its time we started putting our faith, or drawing our faith from the Word of the Lord - the Bible, that is the only place we can obtain it and where it will remain strong and right.

I was recently talking with a brother who is struggling with some healing issues - he mentioned that he didn't understand why the Lord wouldn't heal him - I love this brother and I tried to encourage him by stating the Word of God - he was healed 2000 years ago - by his stripes ye 'were' healed... We can trust God's word, but these days, I'm afraid that we have to be suspect of the many and varied testimonies that we hear coming from those in the church.

We just can't trust folks that much ya'll. The church is in trouble, truth is a rarity and requires great discipline and humility to present. Help us Lord... MM

What Will You Do..?

2009-11-14T17:30:00.001-08:00

Listen to this as I challenge the church with real possible future scenarios and ask yourself, "what will I do" when these things happen..? MM

Follow Me..!

2009-11-09T14:15:00.000-08:00

Jesus used a fascinating yet incredibly effective method to filter out those that wouldn't follow him, and test those that would before he turned them loose to turn the world upside down - listen as Mike McGrath shares the insights into what it really means to follow Jesus..!

Reputations..?

2009-11-06T12:44:00.000-08:00

Why do we care about our reputation with men more than our reputation with the Lord..?

Holidays...

2009-10-30T10:03:00.001-07:00

Ok, I had someone ask me my opinion of Halloween; imagine that as it approaches... Every year millions of American 'Christians' wrestle with this whole "Halloween" thing - should we participate, shouldn't we participate; is it evil, yada, yada, yada...?

My atheist friend Matt Oxley put a posting up on Facebook that I just loved; asked his Christian friends what they thought about the major holidays like Christmas, Easter and Halloween - mentioned their pagan roots and was wondering what we thought... What a great question..!

So I thought I'd publish my opinion - I'm sure I'll get calls and emails, but here goes. They are all meaningless in my opinion. Geez, you'd think that Christmas was some sort of high holy holiday that even Heaven celebrated because its just soo awesome - oooohhh, we must bow our knees to the almighty Christmas, or even Easter holidays... Look folks, all of them have roots in pagan religions - all of them were started by bored ancestors at some point that wanted some way to express their devotion to whomever it was that they were all worshiping at the time; and all of them were hijacked by those who professed Christianity in an effort to either nullify or at least diminish the effect that the pagan festivals were having on the populations that were participating in them...

But at the end of the day, do we all really want to be known as the guys that just diminished perceived evil..? Or should we rather be known as the guys that represented what we claimed to believe and changed the hearts of men (and women, you get me) that eventually changed families, that eventually changed cities, that eventually changed nations..? Cause right now, I get the feeling that our message is "hey, we are the best of the worst - look at us..!" - haha, I know, its hard to swallow - I don't like it either...

My opinion - all these holidays have completely lost any meaning they might have had in the past anyways - I still don't really know why we all even participate in them -they are just a show and have become idols of materialism anyways - but just like you all, I find myself participating, on some level, making the same excuses we all make "its for the kids"... Selah

Scary ain't it - that we do it for our kids - sure, lets just teach them the same foolishness that we've all been participating in for years so that they will all be bound to the same lame traditions that we've been bound to - what kind of logic is that..? Just thought I 'd share my opinions - but like everybody, we all got them; so there ya go, let the chaos begin... :) MM

What is Unity..?

2009-10-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to reference a video that a friend of mine did a few days ago on a website www.theway21.com where he takes a shot at articulating unity in the Body of Christ. I have heard some flack from some folks over his video, so I finally went and watched it today - thought it was very good by the way and I agree with what he said in it - if you haven't seen it, go and check it out...

What is Unity..? I'm not really sure that any of us can truly and/or truthfully answer that question. Oh yeah, most of the time we would offer up some mealy mouthed lame definition - getting along with each other, world peace, blah, blah, blah... You all know what I'm saying. The truth is it is very hard for us to explain what it is because we haven't really found a way to walk in it or live by it yet. We may have a few here and there, but by and large, as soon as some hard test comes our way, we are very quick to break our covenants and very quick to revert back to individual self-preservation.

I was reading about Nehemiah and the insane undertaking that he went and accomplished by dragging approximately 50,000 of his brothers and sisters half way across their known world to a burned out, demolished city called Jerusalem and their monumental task of rebuilding it. Can you imagine getting 50,000 people into any kind of agreement, harmony or unity. We can't even get a hand full of people in the modern church to walk together in agreement let alone that many.

At some point, we need to find a way to incorporate this into our lives and into our church family. The Bible says that it is pleasing to the Lord when we walk together in unity. It is a large contributing factor to why we can't get his presence, his anointing or harvest the souls in this world - because the truth is we are all so darned selfish about our approach to life and the Kingdom of God - we wouldn't for a moment check ourselves or our tongues and just shut the hell up about each other and stop the ridiculous gossiping; or would we..?

Would we if our precious economy suddenly went under and we were forced to eat at the soup kitchen every day, or live in a box with our kids, or maybe learn to speak Russian after they finally invade our country and take over via Marshal law..? What is it going to take to get us to the place where we begin actually helping each other, supporting each other's visions, defending each other against vicious rumors and slander. In the times we are living in, when someone defames another in the church, the leaders seem to take up for the one slandering, not the one slandered. We have it backwards I think.

What if souls became more important than careers, or charity more important than Christmas presents; what if taking care of the widows became more important than eating at fancy restaurants and paying the price in prayer for a greater anointing more of a priority than watching football on Sunday afternoons..? What if loving each other really began to happen, rather than bashing each other because we didn't like something about them?

I just think we need to start giving each other room to fail, room to be who we are, to discover what the Lord has for us rather than getting into each others business because we don't like what they are doing - we need to show each other a lot more grace and a lot more mercy... Wouldn't you agree?

Who wants to be the first to start..? MM

America Is Disappearing..!

2009-09-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

While I don't normally try to roil the Government, choosing rather to focus on how the Government and other factors affect the Church - I felt the need to post this up - they are like having two rottweilers in the back yard ya know - if you feed them enough they will leave you alone - but don't make them mad or they bite real hard...! ;)

Say Goodbye to the U.S. Constitution - as it dies a painful death...

From a Constitutional Lawyer

The following comment is from Michael Connelly of Carrollton, Texas , a retired attorney and constitutional law instructor who states he has read the entire health care bill and has some comments, not about the bill, but about the impact upon our Constitution. It's a broader picture than just health care reform.

"Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.

To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.

The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business and put everyone into a government run system. All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats and most of them will not be health care professionals. Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled.

However, as scary as all of that is, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices. Instead it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that has ever occurred, or even been contemplated. If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.

The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people and the businesses they own. The irony is that the Congress doesn't have any authority to legislate in most of those areas to begin with. I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authority granted to the members of Congress to regulate health care.

This legislation also provides for access by the appointees of the Obama administration of all of your personal healthcare information, your personal financial information, and the information of your employer, physician, and hospital. All of this is a direct violation of the specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures. You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th Amendments may provide.

If you decide not to have healthcare insurance or if you have private insurance that is not deemed "acceptable" to the Choices Administrator" appointed by Obama there will be a tax imposed on you. It is called a "tax" instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the 5th Amendment. However, that doesn't work because since there is nothing in the law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is definitely depriving someone of property without the "due process of law.

So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate so much out the original ten in the Bill of Rights that are effectively nullified by this law. It doesn't stop there though. The 9th Amendment that provides: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people;" The 10th Amendment states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Under the provisions of this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas that once were theirs to
control.

I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea. This is not about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights. Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to "be bound by oath or affirmation" to support the Constitution. If I was a member of Congress I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything like it without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation. If I voted for it anyway I would hope the American people would hold me accountable.

Michael Connelly
Retired attorney, Constitutional Law Instructor
Carrollton , Texas

Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly is a retired attorney who is now a teacher, published author, and freelance writer. As a former Military Intelligence officer in the U.S. Army he is an avid student of American history including all aspects of military history. His father 1LT Roy E. Connelly was an officer in B Co. of the 87th CMB. He and his wife Kay reside in Dallas, Texas. They have six children including four sons who have all served or are currently serving in the military.

As a young man he became an Eagle Scout and as an adult was a scoutmaster for many years. All four of his sons are Eagle Scouts. Mr. Connelly is also an officer in American Legion Post 597 in Carrollton, Texas.

Michael Connelly also teaches Evidence Law, Constitutional Law, and Winning Strategy for the Courtroom via the Internet through colleges and universities worldwide.

Martial Law Coming and Checkpoints are in play?

2009-09-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

Just keeping everybody in the loop as to the preparations that our Government is beginning to make to maintain control within our Country "JUST IN CASE"..? Hmmmm...

Thomas Jefferson 3rd. President, Democrat

2009-09-21T16:23:00.000-07:00

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have".

What is Patience..?

2009-09-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

James 1:3,4

³Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
⁴But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Among several scriptures that discuss this major character placement in our lives, and among the 9 fruits of the Spirit... What is it? How do we know when we have it, or better question, to what degree we have obtained it..?

Some thoughts: Its not an excuse to be lazy, or to do nothing, unless you've specifically been told not to do nothing (happens very rarely in my experience). Its not easily won or earned. It tends to be forced upon us, rather than something we can 'make happen' - I mean the Bible tells us that it comes (get that? it comes) through trial and tribulation.

I recently had an opportunity to experience a greater degree of it and the process associated with it. I also had a rare chance to share it with my daughter, to teach her, while she was in great affliction, a struggle for her very life, a lot more about how it is obtained, and to watch as she wrestled with the trial that would bring it to her door step.

In my experience, I think I can sum it up with this; Having done all to stand, stand therefore..!

When you've done all you know to do, you've faithfully carried out everything, every act, every prayer, every effort, every thought, every ounce of you has been poured out upon the alter of your life as an offering to the Lord, it is then, when you can personally do no more, that patience begins to have its perfect work in you.

It is in that moment, when you are forced to endure, forced to push forward, forced to continue to live with the pain, the agony, the emptiness that fills your soul, your mind, your body; it is in that moment that the fires of tribulation burn their hottest, that the Gold of patience begins to be forged into your life. You experience it, you endure it, you suffer long through it, and when you come through the process, you know that you've been changed. You know that you've gained something that is worth more than anything on this planet - You gained a trust in Him, a faith in him, that you didn't have before... Selah MM

Building Trust...Is There Not a Cause..?

2009-09-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

For More Info on Third World Horrors, check us out at Knight Quest Media...

Trust is a word that is used prolifically throughout the Bible; mainly as an expression of the glue that bonds our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ as we are encouraged to trust him with everything we are and all we do.

In the realm of human relationships it carries just as strong a weight among the weighty factors of life. Most of us go through life trusting some, but not most others.

Now imagine, talking to my western world friends and family, that you grow up in a third world situation, or a country where you aren’t allowed to be who you are, but rather you must be who they tell you to be. Imagine how that must distort your entire concept of trust in others. Sure, if you play by the rules you may get fed, watered and sheltered; some even get work; but for the most part, for all your hard effort, you’re barely getting by and life is really hard.

Most of the world lives under that kind of lifestyle. We in the western world don’t know much about that kind of pressure.

As believers in Jesus, we are called to carry out his great commission; to carry the Gospel, or good news to the world. When it is done in the right way, it is a powerful message of hope and healing that delivers those in a variety of bondage's and situations. It is truly good news.

For many, however, in countries where it is outlawed to follow Jesus Christ, it’s a life and death decision. We here in American recently saw our court system get involved with a situation where a teenage girl fled her home in Ohio after giving her life to the Lord because she was afraid her Muslim parents would kill her, as is their custom to honor Allah. If that is happening here, imagine how much more in the Middle East..?

In Iraq, I’m told we have millions of brothers and sisters who are persecuted regularly; China, Sudan, and other places as well. As we undertake efforts to help them, let’s not forget that they really don’t know what true, deep and solid trust is. They don’t always know if they can trust us or not. We need a revival of character among ourselves if for no other reason, so that when we reach out to them, they will know that they can trust us; because we are trustworthy. That when our own battles get hot, we won’t back down and fight among ourselves like we do so often; but rather, we will preserve the unity of the Spirit for their sakes.

We are in a crisis in America and the western world. A crisis of character; my hope and prayer is that we won’t forget our brothers and sisters over in foreign lands that are relying on us to be there; to follow up on those leadings of the Holy Spirit and find a way to help them. In my heart of hearts, I know that they are waiting and hoping that the Lord will send them deliverance and help…

Can we be those vessels; those instruments that can be used by the master to bring them hope and help? Is there not a cause greater than ourselves that can help us steady our own lives and stop bickering long enough to carry out His great commission..? MM

Hard Words..?

2009-09-11T20:11:00.001-07:00

I was recently accused of uttering very hard messages and words that were supposedly damaging the church and that I was operating in a spirit of rebellion... I've actually been accused of that many times before, this isn't new to me. The enemy will try anything to stop truth... I digress...

There is a book out there, and I was searching for it and found an excerpt from it, so I figured I'd post it...

"We must individually realize and take accountability for the fact that the Church is covered in sin. Just because churches are ﬁlled with so-called Christians doesn’t mean that the church and these so-called Christians are the true Body of Christ. Rather, the true Body of Christ is comprised of true believers who live their lives in the Fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and most importantly, self-control. We must face the sad fact that Christendom is ﬁlled with hypocrites: Many preachers today will not want to hear this message because of the lack of accountability and self-control in their own lives. Due to their private sinful ways they are blinded in ignorance and darkness to the true meaning of God’s Holy Laws and Word."

I'm just sayin'... Reviving Common Sense - I actually like what he says in the book and would recommend that everybody that reads this blog pick up a copy and bless the author. The message was a pretty good one, albeit a bit hard... haha MM

Definition of Status..!

2009-09-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

Buying something that you don't need with money that you don't have to impress people that you don't like..!

Matthew 23:5 - they do all their deeds to be noticed by men.

Thought you'd all get a kick out of that one - wound us oh Lord..! MM

A Haunting...

2009-09-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

My friend Gary and I were chatting earlier and a thought came to my mind. I wanted to share it, because its so true and I think you will agree.

This may sound strange to you, but I'm just being real. I am haunted by the idea that what could've been..? What could've been if men would walk humbly and rightly with each other..? I will never know, because so many give into the pressure to follow selfish ambitions, at the cost to the Kingdom of God and the unity of the Body... Let me expound a bit...

Relationships with people are very powerful in our lives. When we choose to create one with another person, there is a strange and powerful force that is unleashed as two human beings begin to form a bond. That bond is stronger than superglue, gorilla glue, or any other form of permanent attachment known to mankind. The Bible refers to it as a yoke, and dutifully warns us not to be unequally yoked to another person who is not holy.

When people do weird things that betray that bond, the pain that is felt is because of that bond. The pain is always felt deep, and generally lasts for a long time, no matter how hard we try to move forward and away from it.

This bond manifests in many forms and is damaged in many ways as well over time. The Bible says that the wounds of a friend are faithful in Proverbs 27:6, but that the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

When my oldest son was killed, my lovely wife of 20+ years felt such deep pain from the bonds being ripped apart, that she literally lost her will to live; and has suffered deeply in her heart ever since. When over the years, I started up several businesses and ministries and invited other brothers in the Lord to participate with me in those endeavors, only to have those folks abandon me to seek their own selfish ambitions, many taking the resources of the endeavors with them; it pained me greatly. So many would say to me, brother, its only a business, or brother, I had to do what I had to do because it was the Lord that I damage our relationship so that we could both move on into something better...

I disagree. The Bible clearly indicates that the "blessing of the Lord comes without sorrow". Relationships don't heal that easily when they are ripped apart. We are admonished in scripture to care for the relationships that the Lord gives us; to treat them with respect and honor, because at the end of the day, they are holy, a gift from heaven.

We are also given a specific set of instructions about how we are to treat and interact with each other when the perception arises that there is something amiss in the relationship. So many that truly do evil, bypass all that; choosing rather to mistakenly justify their actions as coming from God, yet we have no evidence to support that when they don't follow the Bible method for trying to deal with a breach in the relationship... Selah

If you are part of the Body of Christ, you and I are not supposed to be unequally yoked with the unbeliever. We are however supposed to be yoked to each other. Yoked in a way that doesn't cause damage or harm. The wounds of a friend always come wrapped in love and help the relationship get stronger, they don't destroy it. We should be very careful about whom we enter into relationship, because once its created, and once it begins to grow, we have a God given responsibility to nurture it, care for it, treat it as a holy thing, and honor it before the Lord.

We don't have permission to harm it, destroy it, steal from it, or kill it - that is truly the enemy's role in this lifetime. If you believe anything different my friends, then you are deceived. The Lord takes this issue very seriously when he declares in Mark 10:4-9

⁴And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
⁵And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
⁶But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
⁷For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
⁸And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
⁹What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

This passage of scripture is related to marriage, I know; but it also gives us some insights into the way the Lord considers relationships within the Body of Christ, for we are His bride.

I've noticed in the Church a serious lack of knowledge in this area. I've also noticed the pain and offense that it has caused all of us by not abiding by the guidance and direction that the Bible gives us to handle it properly. We have completely messed this up; including most of the leaders who don't seem to understand the impact this principle has had on the Church. We need to find a way to begin repairing all of this or else the world will never know that we are different - why, because 'the world will know them by their love one for another'... Remember that..?

My take..? Be cautious about getting into relationships to begin with, but recognize that once you're in one, if its within the Body of Christ, the Lord himself has a specific opinion on the matter. Treat it holy, with respect; grow it, prune it, take care of it like you would your prize roses (if you had them, haha) - don't trash it or presume to think that God would have you destroy it, or harm it in any way. Anything less is not truth..! MM

A Fresh Perspective...

2009-09-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

Following up on the events of the previous week - the Lord once again being faithful to reveal and give new intelligence; it appears that my friend WM was played by a couple of very evil and greedy men, bent on personal gain.

Let me explain how such things happen in the church. Young believers, with lots of gifting and talent and a passion for life and a desire to serve the lord; must be discipled by faithful and trustworthy men and women. Unfortunately, there is always a small remnant of wolves that prowl around the outside of the church looking to pick off the young. This is what happened to William.

A brother from Virginia whom I've known for many years decided about 3 weeks ago that the messages that the Lord has been giving me were too hard and were hurting the Church. He began calling WM regularly to protest and advise WM that I was in rebellion - he spread rumors about me to WM and started him questioning whether or not my spirit was right; I mean look at him, divorced, bankrupt, unemployed - surely this isn't a guy who has his heart right... Can you see the pattern and how easy it would be for a young Christian to bite on the hook..?

Another brother from Texas, who has a ministry of his own and another website has been courting WM for some time now... I have money and I will help you become something, just let me contribute to your site, let me become one of your leadership members and I will help you take this thing places. Oh, the allure of riches; the venom that pours from the greedy and ambitious - playing on the strings of the heart, especially in hard times - its easy to see how it would be very tempting...

And then there is the hireling - the voice of the one who is trying to protect his status quo. After all, he worked very hard to build all this; and its a nice living - comfortable Southern California lifestyle. Ahhhh, makes me think of all the nice sunshine and nice people (I digress)... This Mike character is going to mess all that up if we let him continue to rant and moan about how the church needs to change and morph into something that looks like the Book of Acts. Who does he think he is anyways..? (how dare he read the Bible) This is the way we've always done church. We will pull WM aside and make sure he understands that we approach change from the inside (a proven model that fails every time) - he will lose interest over time and our kingdom will be protected...

So, here is how I see it. God brought WM to me to be discipled, JIMF was just the venue. Reason, God knew the voices he was surrounded by and knew that they would all eventually fail, using WM's talent but abandoning him when the dark days came. The Lord used JIMF to teach and train Gary and I for whatever is next. We will see where it all goes, but I can say what a peace we have about all this. We still very much love WM and will stand by him if he needs us to; when the others leave...

The guy from Virginia - what can I say.? He has part of the message right. It was time to disperse and go our ways, one to get a good spanking in the wood shed of life, the other two to move on to whatever the Lord had next for them, having passed the test. The part that he got wrong? His own religious, judgmental and arrogant spirit - for which he will now be taken to the woodshed. The lesson, when the Lord gives you some prophetic insight, make sure your spirit is right; and don't presume that he also called you to enforce the word of the Lord, rather, just to deliver it... Selah.

The guy from Texas; man is he in real trouble. For this guy is older in the Lord and knew exactly what he was doing. He can't plead ignorance nor can he wiggle his way out by claiming any acceptable excuses. May his soul find rest someday and hopefully his family will survive it all - having lost a son, I can tell you its one of the most heart wrenching experiences ever and I wouldn't wish that experience on anybody - so pray for his family please...

If anything changes, I will write about it. In the meantime, I have recorded the experience for future learning and I will now move on. Just so's ya'll know, I have sent an email to those who perpetrated these actions and expressed my love to them - I don't hold anything against them all, just wish I could've helped them avoid all this.

It seems that this happens a lot in the church. Been happening to me about once a year; getting used to it. Not sure that's a good thing though - but hey, at least I still have my sense of humor, and my spiritual senses are getting honed better each time... Blessings, MM

As the Dust Settles...

2009-09-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the last two days were akin to something out of an old "B" rated Armageddon movie for me and many of the members of the Jesusismyfriend.com site. A lot of swords were swinging and accusations abounded, but it seems the beautiful oil of the Holy Ghost has been abundantly poured out upon us old dumb sheep so that we wouldn't hurt each other too badly...

The battlefront is quieting down now and cooler heads are hopefully beginning to prevail. What an interesting experience; to see just how everybody responded... The various positions and opinions on what should be done - who should repent and who should be in charge, who should be scolded and who should explain. Like the large family that we are, when Uncle Fred tries to kiss cousin Susie and she slaps him on the head we all had our say and watched as the various responses were logged for all to see.

Hey, if nothing else, transparency ruled the masses; not WM though - still hiding in the shadows he is. I'm thinking he is afraid to come out and play because when little Billy was playing with those matches it was just sooooo much fun; until the forest caught on fire. Then it was time to run and hide if yaknowhatamean... ;)

So we will see where it all goes - and I will try my best to record the experience so we can all learn what happens when little ones play with matches; or should I say older ones who are young in the spirit decide to crown themselves king for a day when it wasn't authorized by the King...

Gary and I have moved on - we were told by God to do this and just because the third guy decided to jump out of the ship doesn't mean we have to get thrown out of the ship by the crew... Check us out at our new site www.theway21.com and pray for us as we have to reconstitute the ministry that the Lord gave us - sucks that we have to do so much rework, but hey, what would life be like if it was all boring all the time, right..? MM

How The Mighty Have Fallen..!

2009-08-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

I went away this weekend to comfort my wife and quite a few of my oldest sons' friends as we tried to wrestle with the 3rd year anniversary of his death - the devil was busy crashing another ministry through a man who is very young in the Lord, but his naivete cost us our ministry.

I am deeply saddened that his pride opened the door for this to happen - but, as I do, so that we may all learn what to watch out for - here is his first email to me since all this happened - I was totally unaware of all this until last night - still reeling from the sting of it I am - but I am the Lord's and he will repay - selah... MM

From

WM

to Gary, me

show details 12:35 AM (31 minutes ago)

Hello,

I am not sure how we got to where we are at but here we are right now.

After prayer and intercession through a number of different people over the past few weeks the spirit of rebellion within the messages Mike has created since the beginning of site is doing damage within the Body of Christ.

To effectively create change within the Body of Christ it is easier to create that change from within versus from the outside.

Because of this spirit of rebellion a number of people have removed their profiles from JIMF including group pages. The messages are not being received well and this is coming from individuals and organizations who are trying to make major changes within the church yet not throwing stones at the churches versus focusing on the positive aspects of the church and how we can move into a different direction.

Basic administrative rights were taking away from Mike and then Gary so I could continue to pray and seek council. As a result various emails have been sent out to members of JIMF notifying them of things they really don't need to know as it clearly outlined in the bible that issues such as this need to be addressed one on one.

Before I could even speak in person with Mike, as I had indicated I wanted to do when I spoke with Gary on the phone on Saturday, I started to receive emails and phone calls regarding the emails sent out by the both of you from members of JIMF.

When I created JIMF it was suppose to be a place for people to share their testimony about Jesus Christ. This was the vision God placed on my heart. Over the months the site, our messages, including my own have turned into a direction of rebellion against the church as we have all demanded change yet the reality is this is not the vision God placed on my heart.

There is not much more I can say. God has spoken clearly in my life in regards to the direction this site and his message to me has been confirmed by others who have been members of JIMF yet are no longer here because of the leadership of JIMF.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused the both of you, yet I am disappointed at how this whole situation was handled, including on my end. It was not my intention to ban either one of you, yet the emails you have sent out warranted pulling the plug.

Sometimes when pressure is placed on our lives things come out that expose who we really are inside and/or struggling with in life as our personal lives are often a reflection of who we are.

I pray God will sort this all out after much time and reflection.

William Hadala

For the record - I never sent any emails. WM didn't start JIMF. God never spoke to him these things; greedy men did who will now proceed to use WM like a common prostitute because the guy is gifted - he is just too young in the spirit to recognize that he is now among wolves.

He has assumed that he knows how to best create change - going against all the various examples laid out in scripture, he has put himself in the knowledge seat - what prophet was ever accepted and part of the inside clique of the people of God - that would be a big ZERO - NONE..!

He violated the boundaries that we three originally created - instead making himself in charge of this ministry - Gary and I being the other two -

Don't get me wrong - I love WM with all my heart - that is the only reason that I fight so hard to get his attention and try to get these wolves off his back and get him back on track - if he will listen and observe - the very first person that he approved as the very first member after he banned me and Gary, two founders of this ministry - was a guy named David Butler -who, several months earlier tried to steal this ministry and himself was banned...

Just filling in details - as a prophetic person, I find myself in these situations a lot - The Lord puts me there; sometimes I really wonder why - but when the obvious begins to happen - I've been there before...

Greedy men - self centered, liars, lovers of self more than lovers of God - sound familiar - well we're watching it play out right in front of our eyes... Note to self, don't ever do these things - stupid, stupid, stupid...! MM

Obedience..!

2009-08-15T21:12:00.001-07:00

Right On..!

2009-08-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

I'm Out of Ideas..!

2009-08-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if its the economy, the weather, the fact that I no longer have access to all those dollars that I became so accustomed to so many years ago, or the fact that the Lord has created a custom treatment just for me to fashion me more into his image...

I spent a large portion of my life being the idea guy; you know, in the office, at home, at church, wherever... Ask Mike, he has all kinds of ideas - ideas became a hallmark of my life; its what gave me the edge over all those other management consultants - ideas, creativity, imagination - right..?

It seems that I've finally run out of ideas - finally gotten to the end of the run... Where I am now in my life I've finally spent myself trying to make it all work, to make sure all the bills got paid, to ensure the kids got to where they needed to go, to help my brothers and sisters come up with creative ways to deal with the magnitude of problems that vex our society.

Tonight, the Lord met me during a time of worship and said, "Mike, give up all your ideas and trust that I will do something great in your midst that you can't imagine. The more ideas you come up with, the more I will come up with and we will keep playing this game until you surrender. I want the glory, which means you've got to stop and let me be God..!"

I just melted - but it was so liberating. I felt such a release of pressure, a release of enormous proportions - some of you will understand that... :) I realized that he wanted the glory all along. He wanted to be the one with the ideas, the creativity, the imagination -the ANSWER..!

May the Lord bless each one of you as he has me and set you all free from having to perform, having to bring the solution to the table - having to have all the glory...

I realized that I can't save the whole world, as much as I want to. I can't meet everyone's needs - for that matter, I can't even meet my own right now - I have nothing, I am bankrupt, I am empty, I am dead. I realized that I've heard all the messages before; other men of God preaching the same thing century after century - the same problems plague society that did centuries ago - it is true that there is nothing new under the sun. Its all the same old stuff...

Lord, I'm done; or maybe I'm undone... Not sure, but it felt so good Lord to let it all go tonight, to surrender my life totally into your loving arms; to find that rest that I've searched for so many years. I'm positive that all my naysayers will jump on my latest revelation to declare what an irresponsible person I've become - they could be right, but so what..?

I'm going to stop trying to solve everybodies' problems, and start soaring on wings of eagles while the Lord moves in the Earth and manifests his glory - that is the life that we are promised - that is the life that we are enticed to live - that is where you will find me from now on - where the eagles have gathered... MM

Asleep in the Light..!

2009-08-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Die Die Die !

2009-07-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

What does it mean to live a life of death..? That is exactly what we are called to live this life like; a life of dying to our selfishness... MM

The Local Church...

2009-07-25T19:05:00.001-07:00

We've all been taught that we are supposed to be a part of a 'local church'... Right..? What does that mean..? I've been thinking about this for a while, and tonight, the Lord invaded my thoughts and showed me some things...

The world is tired of our image; its old and twice dead, plucked up by the roots. The Lord is getting ready to sweep through the earth and will destroy this current model. Scary huh..? All of those who are leading these things need to prepare their hearts and seek him for a new approach - he told me that he will honor those that honor him and are flexible enough to see a new, creative approach to carrying out the great commission.

It will show up in a variety of ways, including the Government creating policies to begin shaping what they believe acceptable forms of religious expression are and aren't. Many of you have the chance right now to seek the Lord for the right changes so you can morph into what will be very effective and under the radar; those of you that fight to stay in what you are currently in, will be destroyed. Remember, the Lord is doing this, not the devil... Selah...

We are not supposed to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, that is the word of God; but that leaves a lot of room for interpretation and possible methods of carrying that out without the current approach that we experience here in America.

I did a video a while back that was immediately attacked by ministers and others. This video didn't really ever make it out to all the ones it was supposed to because of those knuckleheads shutting me down. For some reason, the Lord took me back to it tonight and wanted me to repost it - there are prophetic nuggets of gold in this video folks - please don't blow it off - that day is coming; lets not be foolish virgins and neglect to fill our candles with oil - lets pay the price now to get ourselves prepared against that day while it is still the day, before the darkness comes... OK...? Blessings, MM

Curse of the Unspoken...

2009-07-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

Its the thing that nobody wants to think or talk about - what if our plans, ambitions, dreams, visions or future imaginations about our own lives don't ever happen? What if we are all presuming that things will just continue as they always have? What if I'm wrong about the amount of time I have left on the planet? What if the way I'm living comes to a sudden halt, life completely changes around me and I'm left completely unprepared for what the future holds..?

Have you ever wondered if you'd wake up one day and realize that the way you've been living, for all of its apparent success, or all of its perceived luster actually ends up being relatively meaningless..? Can you imagine having it cut short? What would that do to you? What if your life was cut short and you never had the chance to fulfill all that desire and vision on your heart because you had decided to put it all off while you pursued something else; year after year delaying the very thing that you always really wanted to do..?

Or what if you woke up one morning and realized that everything you had been building and planning for was suddenly gone? All the stuff you wanted to do before you got around to serving God had suddenly left you in a very bad predicament and now you aren't even sure you're going to be able to fulfill it all because you wasted your substance and strength on the temporary rather than the eternal..?

We don't spend much time talking of such things in the Church these days. We prefer to leave these discussion topics, 'UNSPOKEN'..! But we are clearly admonished in scripture to serve the Lord in the days of our youth, so when the evil days come we have a heritage and experience to lean on. We are encouraged to count the cost before we do anything; that would require imagination, research and diligence; rather than our typical approach "Well brother, we'll just trust the Lord' - yeah right, good luck with that one... Until you've "learned" to trust the Lord, that silly approach won't work for you; and some would argue that its this very lazy approach to living for God in America that has gotten us all where we are today... Selah.

When you are all 80 years old - celebrating your birthday, for those who made it that far, will you wish that you had worked more hours at your job, bought more things with your money, experienced more, traveled more, or do you think that you'll be thinking more along the lines of I wish I had more time with those I loved, I wish I had served the Lord with my whole life, not just the later part, will you be thinking how much you miss those who you loved who passed on before you..?

I would like to suggest that we all consider our mortality, and use our God given imaginations to envision the answers to these very important questions; rather than just living for the moment like so many are doing in our country today - including our Government leaders - all this nonsense about stimulus and the economy - living for the moment that is - a temporary bandage that will simply delay the inevitable - because the eternal principles won't be violated for ever... Didn't the Lord say "I won't strive with man forever"..? Selah... MM

Christian - What Does it Really Mean..?

2009-07-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

You know, being born again doesn't make one a Christian..! Now that I've got your attention - let me explain. The early believers were first called 'Christians' in Antioch as it is recorded in the Bible - by those who were not part of the church, but rather heathens who noticed that they were behaving an awful lot like the one they claimed to be following...

I look around at what most call the church today and I don't see hardly any real 'Christians' - sorry guys, what I see is a lot of people playing a very sad and dangerous game. A grand acting drama that is played out everyday, and by so many who think that they are doing the right thing. There is so much sin in the church today, there is no way that we can accurately make the claim to be Christians. I'm just musing here, but it occurred to me that we very rarely ever see ourselves living like they did in the book of Acts...

So, what do we do now... I'm not sure..? The prophets have spoken - the church has ignored them, now what..? What does history tell us..? Well, lets just say 'It ain't pretty'...

Words mean nothing to us anymore - yet the Lord himself never uttered a single idle word. Every word he ever uttered had purpose and power. We talk and talk and talk and talk, but we rarely really do anything. It saddens me more than any of you can possibly imagine - as a servant of the Lord and one who senses his heart very deeply at times; I am sooo aware of how far we (the mighty) have fallen and I am so heart broken that so many that make the claim to the title will end up in absolute ruin and destruction.

As Jeremiah of old, my heart breaks for the depths of the delusion and deceit that those who call themselves the church have fallen into - thinking that they are doing their 'best' while giving God their leftovers. We are in deep trouble folks - we are being compelled by Heaven to repent and change our ways, do good works while the son is shining for the dark days are coming.

For those ministers that occasionally read this blog, or have others read it and tell them about it, you have a great task at hand; please don't take it lightly - time is short, and there has gone out a measuring line into the Church and it will divide the sheep from the goats - we will see an awesome phenomenon hit the church as those who claim to be a part of it will choose to be on one side or the other - the Lord's or the World's..!

We will need every ounce of the presence of the Lord to just survive the coming days as the love of many waxes cold. There will be a great harvest, but so many that claim to know the Lord now will fall away - take heed brothers and sisters; judgment has begun and it always starts at the house of the Lord... Love MM

If Not Now...When..?

2009-07-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

There is a future coming that most of you can't begin to imagine. A future that the Lord is provoking us all to prepare for. Amos 3:7 states that he does nothing unless he shows it to his servants the prophets first. Do you believe that..?

There are many changes that need to take place in the Church in order for us all to be ready against that day - not much time to make those changes - but most aren't getting it...

Let's imagine that today, you have $400,000 in your 401K - it has a real, current value - meaning that you can measure its current value by the kind of and amount of stuff you can buy with it if you went shopping today. Those dollars are decreasing in value daily, but most don't care. There will be a day when the value of those dollars will cease to exist - that day is also coming.

Let's imagine that we all figured this out and decided that it would be smarter to use the current value of those dollars to invest into the kingdom of God. That would be smart, very smart. Because, let's imagine that you try to hold onto it, and that day gets here - pooof, your dollars are now worthless - get the picture..?

Are you all willing to take that risk..?

Here is your alternative. The Lord says for you to sell all you have and follow him. He is the only one that knows the totality of the future ahead, and he knows the best path and lifestyle for each of you to follow. Only he can unlock the secret of your life and its purpose. Only he has the ability to guide each one of you in such a way as to maximize your effectiveness in the Earth. Without him, we are all nothing...

He is saying to his Church, sell it and invest it and in that day, I will return the reward of it back to you..! Get the picture..? MM

Kingdom Resources - Mammon Wants to Enslave You..!

2009-06-25T22:20:00.000-07:00

Watch this..!

Mammon Wants You..!

2009-06-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

The spirit of this world has every intention of enslaving you..! Big surprise huh..? Why..? Well it could be because he wants you so busy trying to pay your bills, please your bosses, and fit into a society designed by him that you won't have time to serve God, carry out the great commission, or spend time with your family.

Are you feeling the pressure yet..? Look folks, I've been there, many of you are there right now and many more of your children will go there because it is being taught in our churches and taught in our homes. Unless we change something significant, we will continue to make him rich and us irrelevant in a lost and dying world.

Here is my advice; pray and fast until it comes out of you! Get loose from the spirit of this world, believe God for a creative idea, a new approach, something different that allows you to live a life that glorifies God and keeps you free to serve him and your family/community without all the bonds that this world wants to put on you.

If that means changing the way your living, quitting your 'mammon job' or relocating to make it work, it will be worth it. Time is short you know..!

How many have you talked to that are at the end of their lives who said, 'gee, I wished I would have worked more, or made more money..." NOT - people who are getting ready to leave this life don't think that way, at all..! What they think is this, "I wish I would have taken more time to serve the Lord, carry out the great commission, heed his call and get to relish the beauty of time spent with my family; which is a great gift in this life..."

Please listen; don't ignore this... If you do, you will eventually end up like so many that end up shipwrecked on the rocks of regret. The Bible never indicated that you were supposed to live your lives serving Mammon - I seem to recall a scripture that specifically called it out and said "you can't serve two masters, you can't serve God and Mammon..!" Get the picture..? MM

Authority...Most Don't Get It..!

2009-06-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

I know what you're thinking; great, Mike is about to blast everybody with some stupid message about not submitting or something like that, right..? OK, maybe and maybe not...

Let me explain; there are those in the earth who walk in true authority. The demons of hell and even the angels of heaven know who they are; and they actually listen and obey them.

Acts 19:

11And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
12So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
13Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the LORD Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

I’d often imagined a test designed to test real authority from that which is stolen. We could hold a leadership conference, invite all those who claim the title’s among the church at large here in America. On the first night, welcome everybody and explain our desire and position to invest in those who really have the goods –then we would send everybody, one at a time, through say five or so rooms filled with demon possessed and sick people – those who were able to deliver and heal them would get to stay, those who couldn’t would be labeled fake and cast out of the conference.

Sounds radical, I know – what really separated the followers of Jesus from the rest of the Jews of that day? Wasn’t it this very characteristic – they demonstrated with power and authority the reality of Jesus Christ in their lives.

Now, back to the current crop of ‘leaders’ in the Church. Many of you don’t belong in leadership, most of you don’t have a clue what true authority is; yet you run around demanding that everybody submit to ‘your authority’. Then you proclaim that those who are experiencing hard times are experiencing hard times because ‘they aren’t submitted to anybody’ – FOOLS..! We all experience hard times, welcome to the planet – some more than others, many times because we are following Jesus more than most, not less.

Here is a clue – real authority comes with covenant. When I submit to Jesus as Lord, he gives me a whole litany of promises and commitments – what do you do? You demand submission without giving anything in return.

Brother Mike, what do you mean? Does this sound familiar – Pastor, I would like to submit to you as a man of God, I will listen to your counsel, advice, warnings, I will be there to help build this vision, pay resources to support it, etc., etc., etc., - this is what we all do – let’s see what they do in return; OK, thanks Bro Mike, in return I will be there to preach on Sunday, if you can schedule an appointment you might get in occasionally to see me and ask for advice (for I am a very busy man you know), I will take your money and live a very comfortable life with it (even though you may be struggling yourself), I will tell you all your failures and give you stuff to do around the church; we will make the facility beautiful and if you’re really lucky, you might get to play golf with me…

What should be occurring is this; we give ourselves to real men of God, not those who claim the title with no substance (most leaders by the way), they in return should follow the Lord’s example; I will counsel you when you need it, I will make sure you are taken care of when you hit a hard spot financially, I will really pray for you, heal you when you are sick, be there when crisis hits, console you when you are grieving, etc. I will do this to gain your trust and to steward what the Lord has put in my care; not to Lord it over you with my fancy titles and fake authority like so many do..!

Many of you have been taught an absolute lie from the pit of Hell about real authority. The Bible is rich with stories of men and women who demanded no such titles, no resources, no favor, no special pomp and circumstance – but who faithfully carried out their calling without regard to all that – they had real authority. Jesus for example… selah…

I always hear folks make the claim, well if the King says do it you should do it or get killed. Jesus is the King of Kings, and doesn’t operate like that. He operates on the principle of agreement – you agree (with your free will) to submit to his Lordship, and he carries out all the promises laid out in the covenant we know as the New Testament. Israel was never supposed to have an earthly King; they only got one when they rejected the real King – so put that in your pipe and smoke it..! And stop using that concept to defend your stupid misuse and abuse of what true authority is…

I pray that the real leaders in the Body of Christ will continue to do exactly what they are doing day in and day out, unnoticed, unrecognized and uncompensated in most cases but known of Jesus. Those of you who have usurped and stolen authority and use it as a manipulative tool to control people for your personal gain and benefit – REPENT now, while you can. Your day in court is coming…! MM

I Crossed the Line...

2009-06-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

Several days ago, I was confronted with an opportunity, so I thought, to accelerate a process to make some things right with some members of my past. There is this glaring offense that was created last year when some local brothers majorly stabbed me in the back on some things, and I've been on the hunt for a way of making it right. I've tried several Biblical approaches with no results.

Sooooo, rather than just be patient and let the Lord do it like we are supposed to do, I decided to go onto another brother's blog site, a brother whom I've known for over 20 years and provoke him a bit to see if I could get him to be my go between, knowing that he is well acquainted with these other brothers - and having heard that he had been running around town bad mouthing me, I was like, hey, I'll take a shot, maybe by inflicting some short term pain, I can get a long term win for all of us.

Well, you probably know where I'm going with this... I messed up royally. Yup, I think I ended up actually hurting my brother in a way that is not right, nor Biblical. He and I ended up exchanging words, calling each other names and man did it get ugly fast.

He eventually made a very good point to me by telling me that I shouldn't have included him in with the others who actually sinned against me, and then he nailed the coffin shut on my own fleshly death by being a bigger man than I and apologizing for arguing with me and calling me names (I paraphrase). Wow, that just killed me man! Talk about heaping coals of fire upon my head, it was a brilliant strategy actually and it got me dead in the heart.

I wanted to expound on my decision and ensuing consequences in this post just to show that we all have the potential to mess up big time every once in awhile. We are all capable if we let our emotions, or our misunderstandings begin to take over our thought life - which is what I think happened to me. I have since left him a big apology on his blog, wishing I could tell him face to face and give him a very large hug - not sure he would want me to do that now, and I fear, maybe never again. Man, did I mess up and I wish I could take all that back now... ;(

Its perfectly acceptable to have our debates, our provokings, our challengings etc., as I've pointed out in scripture so often, but folks, there is a line to all of that. And we should never cross that line to the point where it begins to do real harm to the relationship or the person. We need to know where that line is and make a commitment not to cross it like I did in this situation.

Lesson learned for me; hopefully... ;) I just hope that my brother can find it in his heart to forgive me and allow the Holy Ghost to restore our relationship someday. At the end of the day, its not worth losing a good friend over; and I'm sorry Bro Rodney... Love you more than you know... MM

Welcome to the Front Lines..!

2009-05-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

LET'S GET READY TO RUUUUUMMMMBBBLLLEEEE...!!!

Love ya'll... MM

Invest in the Best

2009-05-27T09:05:00.000-07:00

This video will rock your world..! Since I launched it, I have had more criticism, personal attacks, etc., by my 'brothers and sisters' in the Lord - it seems I've touched a very sensitive nerve in the spirit..! For the record, 2 Corinthians 8:13 - 15

13: For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:
14: But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:
15: As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

The resources that are in the hands of those who have a lot belong to those in the Church who will carry out the Great Commission..! Let them loose, we are waiting for the resources to do what the Lord has told us to do..! Selah MM

This is not an attempt to get your money - I am not given to money like so many others..! MM

A Cry for Freedom..!

2009-05-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

This is a re-release of a very important message that the Lord has put on my heart today - so please take the time to listen...

God Bless,
MM

Imagine...Come out of the Box..!

2009-05-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

Just trying to imagine what life would look like if we the church could really get a hold of a belief system that completely lines up with the Word of God..?

I hope someday, we get this thing and start living it! I just worry that we may really run out of time... Selah MM

The Little Foxes Spoil the Vine...

2009-05-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

I had a very interesting experience today, and I wanted to record it so all that are following this blog will be able to hopefully learn a very valuable lesson from my hard experiences.

A year ago, I was party to an endeavor to try and start up a business with two brothers from my local church area - I had known (sort of) these two guys for a while and had no reason to worry if they were trustworthy or not. We worked very hard and I poured my life into this thing believing it was from the Lord.

Suddenly, one day when my chips were about as down as they could be, these two called me to breakfast and broke the news to me that they were quitting. They shared a variety of concerns that they apparently had; but at the end of the day, they just didn't want to go into business with me.

I was devastated, not so much by their apparent desire not to start a new business, but more because I had burned up all my resources trying to bring this vision into reality. It was that process that started me on the path of losing everything that I held dear to me; including my wife, my house, my witness among my church brethren, etc...

I took it the best I could; I certainly wasn't happy about it, but wanted to leave and let be. Until I discovered recently that they had actually committed a grievous sin against me in order to hijack that vision and use it for their own selfish devices. I couldn't ever really get to the heart of 'why' they did what they did. I heard various reasons given; none of which really made any sense to me - but again, let dead things lie right?

Within the last 10 days, the Lord has brought to the surface the root, or perhaps I should refer to it as the fox, that spoiled our vine. I had settled it in my spirit that I would move on and not hold anything against them -and still, that is my heart.

Facts: I discovered that these two had continued with the implementation of the business, without me. They poisoned all the relationships that I had created for the business, and my church relationships as well by telling a lie about me - I just discovered this, so it is very fresh in my mind. By their own admission to me, they took this lie that they created, and spread it all about - intentionally making it so everybody thought I did something that I never did. They are now the owners of a business model that I developed (albeit on paper).

I was just going to let it lie, even after all the suffering it caused me, but the Lord spoke to me and said NO! This situation has caused a grievous sin in the camp and must be dealt with. It has caused countless many to suffer as well and will continue to be a stench to his nostrils until it is revealed and healed - repented of and restored - so I was obedient to the Lord to call these two guys to account.

The situation is unfolding as we speak right now. I want you folks to learn something from all this.

They claimed that I asked for a $96,000.00 a year salary - which I never did - rather than come to me directly with it, they apparently went directly to each of their Pastors, and fabricated some story about how I was a greedy man - having heard their sides of the stories, without my input or me even knowing they were doing all this, their Pastors gave them their blessing and permission to cut me loose from the business - after I had poured almost 4 months of full time effort and used up approx $60,000.00 worth of resources that I had brought to the table to support myself while I took this thing on full time - they continued to work their jobs - then, after I was cut loose - they secretly continued to implement my business plan - they now have a business created, have involved several other 'investor/managers' and haven't made a dime since its inception - again, this is what they have told me.

I will obey the Lord - and have prophesied to them that this will end in miserable failure - and will cause great harm to all who are involved - now I have carried out my part and am waiting to see what happens - initial indications are that they are going to ignore the warnings and continue down this path of destruction - I pray mercy, but I know it will only last for a short time while God gives them room to repent of this great deception...

Here is the learning - don't rely on your own limited ability to understand or communicate a matter - go to your brother if you have a misunderstanding - get it clear - if there is an offense of some kind, go directly to your brother first. After you have tried your best to get it resolved, cleared up, understood - then and only then do you take witnesses with you to try again to resolve - you don't jump directly to involving the Pastors and leaders in order to gain some advantage over the one you are trying to rob like these guys did.

Don't let the foxes in to begin with - be diligent to keep them out - they only have power if you and I give them power - in the mean time, souls are going to hell, people are really, no kidding suffering in these two churches; its a mess! I am heartbroken that my brothers and sisters in Christ are subject to this foolishness - please pray that these evil men will repent before its too late - I know the Lord has great things for all of us, but he will not bless us until we get these grievous sins out of our camp... Selah MM

We Are Moving To Slow..!

2009-04-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

What don't we get..? Are we desensitized because we've become accustomed to the dramatic messages coming out of Hollywood and Washington D.C..? Are we simply no longer buying what everybody is selling? Because of all the stupidity of the past, are we now vulnerable to a real warning message being ignored because we no longer really trust that anybody will say anything with any real substance or truth in it..? What is it, I'm trying to wrap my brain around this problem but can't seem to...? ;(

I'm very worried - the other day, the Lord mentioned to me that the Church was moving way to slowly - we were not responding fast enough to his direction to re-tool and prepare for a major crisis in the world - his intention of course is to set the stage for an enormous harvest of souls - however, we are still stuck in our selfish routines of life and can't seem to grasp the magnitude of what is taking place around us.

I had an experience last night - I couldn't get to sleep for a few hours - tossing and turning because my mattress was on fire - not literally, but you know how you always look for that fresh, cool place on the mattress to sleep? Everywhere I moved the entire bed felt as if it was on fire - so I started praying, thinking that maybe this was from the Lord - a few hours later - it hit me...

We are on the verge of millions of people going straight into hell - very soon - and we are all sitting back doing nothing about it! The Lord wanted me to feel the sting of the flames, the experience of the burning to prophetically remind me of what is about to happen.

Listen, brothers and sisters, I appeal to you - get your lifestyles changed now..! If necessary, stop what you are doing, trust the Lord and move out of your comfort zones and lets get busy winning souls - the harvest is sitting right there in front of us - what is our problem..?

Help us Lord! Help us get a hold of the urgency of our situation - help us to make the changes that we need to make faster..! MM

My Friend Just Went To Heaven..!

2009-04-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

It is a sad day, and yet a wonderful day all rolled into one - and frankly I'm not sure how to respond. My Father in the Lord, Brother Joe Crandall, the man that probably had the most amount of influence in my life, and who set me on this course so many years ago, has passed away. He has relocated to his heavenly mansion - and I miss him dearly already...

One of the very last things I ever heard him say to me was this, "you are truly my friend". I appreciated that statement more than any of you can possibly imagine. This man, at age 87 had experienced a life in God that spanned over 60 years of ministry, difficulty, obedience and faithfulness on a level I have not seen in any other life that I've run across in my years on the planet.

Brother Joe had a visitation from an Angel of the Lord at the age of 16, who handed to him 5 seeds to plant into the Earth during his lifetime - 4 were churches and one was a School of the Prophets - which he did faithfully. He had 12 children, 11 of which survived to grow up. His family was super important to him and he loved them very much. This man was blessed beyond my own imagination in so many ways - the Lord was so faithful to take such good care of him over the years.

He came from a generation that understood hardship, sacrifice and loyalty. His own mother being one of the primary players during the Asuza street revival of the early 20th century; herself a single mother raising her children to love and serve God with all their hearts. He taught me and imparted so much to me; I could never fully describe the impact that this man, my friend had on my life.

Lord, I thank you so much for using this humble servant to significantly shape and bless my life. I will never forget; and I will never be the same... Bro Joe, say hello to the Lord Jesus for me will ya, and I'm going to miss you sooooooo much... MM

Wanna Know What The Future Holds..?

2009-04-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

Casting the Vision..!

Listen as I share what the Lord showed me - the word of the Lord for the Body of Christ..! Listen as I share what the Lord showed me is about to happen in the Earth! Now is the time to embrace the true lifestyle of Christianity and listen as I reveal the major changes coming to the church..! Accept the challenge that the Lord is issuing to his church to engage in the greatest move of the Spirit of God the Earth has ever seen..!

Looking forward to working with all of you in the Harvest..! Get ready, God is going to do something mighty very soon that will unleash the environment necessary to kick off this revival..! MM

Teachers...

2009-04-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

Teachers; we have all had them, whether structured or unstructured, we all had a need at one point for someone to teach us something. We honor our teachers and should be thankful for all the stuff they taught us...

I would like to propose that there is a situation in the Church currently that concerns me; as a teacher myself, I see a scary dynamic developing in the church. The 'do as I say' model of teaching is probably one of the most antiquated and simplistic models of education within our human experience - we see it in families, workplaces, communities, the justice system among other aspects of society. It is a necessary version of teaching and generally is applied when dealing with people on a very basic level; i.e. young children, new employees, prisoners, etc.

However, at some point, as we learn and grow and mature, a more robust approach needs to be adopted in order to fully maximize the learning experience for mature human beings. As a part of that mature learning model, it is important to utilize a wholly different approach; one that enrolls the learner into the process. As we all progress into our college years, the lecturing begins to wane as we are challenged to go and seek answers on our own; smart professors recognize the need for the learner to begin to take the responsibility for learning on themselves.

Then, as the learner matures even further - they eventually should morph into the teaching role themselves; thus completing the cycle and graduating not necessarily to 'TEACHER' but rather to the role of 'PROFESSIONAL LEARNER' - the later role being the total fulfillment of the goal of the process.

Now with that as a backdrop, I see a very different model playing out in the Church regularly; and honestly it has me in a place of irritation (hey, at least its not infuriation, but that may be coming soon... ;) . Here is my thinking. I have met a large number of Pastors, Leaders and even Bible School Teachers - who think that they are the be all, end all to God's greatest gift to teaching on the planet - prideful, arrogant fellas they are who totally don't understand the training, educational, or teaching process that we are supposed to be facilitating in the Church.

Rather, they choose to set an environment like this: Everybody listen to me, be quiet, do not ask any questions, do not challenge what I'm saying, for I will stand up here every Sunday, or every day we teach and I will pontificate my personal beliefs upon you - there is some good that can come of that, but all they will ever accomplish is creating a large population of dependent people who never learn how to think for themselves; while ensuring that when these folks they are allegedly leading get confronted by those who have valid questions about the faith of the Christian Church, they will be unable to properly defend their own beliefs or provide any real benefit to the ongoing efforts to win souls and disciple them. Ok, I'm calming down now...

The early church had a very robust debate, discussion, and discipleship process that completely enabled a generation of learning and knowledge transfer as the Holy Ghost had free reign to reveal and unleash truth into the earth on an unprecedented level. What about our generation..? Why can't we seem to unleash truth into the earth? Aren't we living in the Information Age? What is wrong with this picture?

Listen up leaders; I would seriously advise you to lighten up on your dictator-like approach and begin to learn yourselves how learning actually works in the Kingdom of God..! You have been responsible for this current crop of confusion that permeates the church. I would recommend that you loosen your grip on the control that you've so desperately preserved, and allow the body of Christ to experience the ups and downs of the learning process - it is only by doing that, that we will all grow and become the strong witnesses that we need to be for the Lord..! Without this taking place, we will only continue to produce half-hearted, confused church folks that aren't worth their collective weight when it comes to carrying out the real, great commission... MM

Integrity, a Missing Value...

2009-04-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

Help, Lord , for the godly man ceases to be, For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. - Psalms 12:1

We have experienced this phenomenon before you know, ask David. If you look at the landscape of our country here in the USA, you find that everybody seems to be deceiving their brother, taking, taking, taking more and more and more. Every time we turn around we are witnessing more greed than at any other time I can remember.

The Bible says:

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. - Luke 16:10

This is a powerful statement - if we are trustworthy to steward the resources, the message, the vision, the word, or any other aspect of our relationship with the Lord, we will be given more responsibility and our lives will shed forth his glory in the earth. If we are untrustworthy and selfish in our approach to all of the above, our lives will reflect that unrighteousness in every way in the earth and bring a shame to this great kingdom.

Lets not get confused, just because a person has a lot of stuff, or a large paycheck, or whatever - this is 'NOT' a measure of success in the kingdom. More likely the kingdom is measured in terms of whether we have a clean conscience, are we trustworthy, are we self-sacrificing and selfless in our approach to life..? These characteristics are worth more than silver and gold in the life of the believer...

keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. - 1 Timothy 1:19

Shipwreck here doesn't speak to the loss of goods or stuff, rather the personal relationship that a believer has with their Lord being off-track. We are all very good at hiding what is on the inside, but the Lord knows, and our conscience knows.

I am bringing this up because if we are going to participate in the great commission, our hands must be clean; they must be holy and we must realize that all these resources that the Lord endows us with are also holy. Far be it from me to put my hands on something that belongs to him.

As far as how we treat each other..? The Lord plants vision in a person's heart. The Lord intends for certain folks to carry out certain things - that is why he plants those things in our hearts. If someone else, hearing what is in your heart, tries to go carry it out on their own due to selfish reasons (like they want the glory or the gold that comes with it) - they will shipwreck their lives - the Lord will not honor that, because they are not honorable.

Don't do this folks - better to refuse the money or fame that so often tries to take these things over and the underlying greed than to shipwreck your life and your relationship with your Lord..!

I would rather be poor in this world! Please consider..! MM

I Will Not Be Intimidated..! And Neither Should You..!

2009-04-09T08:31:00.001-07:00

I find it truly amazing that as we drift further and further down the time line of history, we are losing the clarity and accuracy of what our founding fathers envisioned as a nation that would actually be free to worship the one, true and living God. We've been hijacked by a spirit of secularism as plainly evidenced by the various news articles that have been printed in Newsweek, and other magazines lately where the authors' hostile tones and completely inaccurate version of our history have been recorded in the pages of those periodicals.

And my Lord in Heaven, how did we get to a place where we are sitting by while our Chief Executive is telling the world that we are not a "Christian Nation"? Do we have any idea the wrath that we are inviting by continuing to push the Lord out of our country? My brothers and sisters - I appeal to you as just men and women, people of faith in the True and only living God; we must be who the Lord created us to be! I will not stand by and yield to the intimidation and fear that these heathen men are trying to bring upon us, the people of God; but rather I will invoke the name of the Lord Jesus Christ at every opportunity, at every occasion, upon every circumstance and situation where I genuinely need him to move on my behalf or on the behalf of others - I will not fear these heathen infidels who dare to mock my God.

The difference between my God and theirs, my God is alive and real! Where is Allah, where is Buddha - are they sleeping? Why don't they answer prayers? Because they are DEAD, that is why! If I'm asked to pray at any function or meeting, I will invoke the name of Jesus Christ and not be ashamed or intimidated by their lame laws! Lock me up! Watch what my God (the one who is actually alive) will do on my behalf!

Dare ya! ;) MM

Where Do You Go..?

2009-04-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

Where do you go when all the things that you've spent an entire lifetime pouring your life into evaporate? What do you do when the depths of the grief you're experiencing reach proportions of intensity that you could never even imagine yourself surviving? Who do you turn to when you can't imagine sharing your inner most hurts, thoughts and frustrations - because you simply don't trust anybody in your life with those pearls?

What do you do with all the memories of death, destruction, pain, suffering, blood, guts and the smells and sounds of utter destruction that you may have witnessed while living your life with the best of intentions; and guarding your brothers and sisters from harm while carrying out your duty with honor and respect?

Grief is a strange thing, it tries its very best to conquer and occupy your thoughts; it tries so hard to dominate your life, to hold your mind hostage to its intimidation and fear. But if you can get past the intimidation and fear that it try's to bring; including the depression, pain and suffering that it tries to deposit, you can discover that it also contains a strange kind of beauty within its boundaries.

Grief reminds us that we still care; it reminds us that we are still alive and our pain reinforces the fact that deep down inside, we are still human and as such perfectly normal. When my oldest son died, the initial shock was truly overwhelming, but it wasn't long before many of our family and friends were telling us to 'get over it' - its been awhile now, shouldn't you be getting past all this?

When my in-law parents died, the same result. When I lost my job, those who let me go so arrogantly told me that they were displeased that I was poking the Coast Guard in the eyes for their obvious failures that significantly contributed to my son's death - stating in effect; 'you need to get past this 'dead son' thing'!

Now that I've lost my dream house, had to move into a small rental, filed for bankruptcy and very recently witnessed my lovely wife of 20 years filing papers to bring our relationship to an end - I'm finding myself flirting with this mistress that has been at my side for so many years. I'm finally discovering that the grief that I have experienced and am experiencing through this whole process is absolutely normal - and strangely enough, beautiful.

I now know a side of the Lord Jesus Christ's character that I never would have discovered! I am now more acquainted with what he suffered for those who are hurting, lost or are suffering in this lifetime. I understand like never before the ultimate price he paid for those of us who experience these horrible things; and at the end of the day, he dearly loves us. I'm intimately aware, like never before of that sense of loss when somebody else does something that you have no control over, but you are the one that experiences the brunt of the grief.

We have no choice but to turn to him - he is the only one that really understands the depths of the thing.

Why do we feel this way; why do we experience such a deep sense of grief over such experiences? Why? Because we care... Selah MM

Finally, A Website We Can All Love!

2009-04-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

I was informed today of the launch of a new website - a collaborative, social media type website that is best described as a combination of MySpace and Facebook; then add in some steroids and You have an idea of what this new site is all about. Its a place designed by Christians, for Christians - a place to meet and collaborate without all the nasty stuff you get on the other sites.

http://www.jesusismyfriend.com/

I wholeheartedly endorse this site and recommend that all my readers consider shifting their online activities to this site and away from the others - at least meet your friends on this site, and use the others for evangelism if nothing else. Have a clean, pure experience with others like you! MM

My Offense..?

2009-04-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

It was about this time last year that the most intense of my trials began to come into my life. I had been teaching at a local Bible College, working for General Dynamics as a Senior Advisor to some pretty senior DHS Intel types, had a beautiful home, attended a beautiful church, yada, yada, yada - you get the picture.

I had moved to my present location hoping to simply settle in, enjoy a much deserved break from my other trials and rebuild my family and my home; making this my lifelong dream community to live in. Not necessarily retire per se, but certainly thinking that this would be the last move I'd ever have to make - man, did I miss it! What was I thinking..? ;(

For the last 20 or so years, everywhere I've gone; churches, businesses, government agencies etc., I had been on assignment - troubleshooting, investigating, assessing, auditing, problem-solving, etc. For some reason I was hoping those days were over... It was all so stressful, I mean imagine trying for decades to help leaders improve, change, grow - it was a daunting task then, and I certainly didn't want to engage in that here - I would soon realize that the Lord sent me on another assignment - but this one would cost me just about everything...

When things started to get crazy for me, the church folk initially tried to help, counsel, advise, etc. But none of them had been down this path that I was on - for all the effort, there really was no solace to be found there. They tired of trying and then mis-reading the entire situation, shunned me. I was advised by a man of God I've known for years to make sure I was staying close to Pastor, keep him up to date and share whats on your heart - starting in November, I tried numerous times to contact him directly, no joy. Tried making appointments, no joy. Tried talking to some of the other leaders, no joy. Nobody wanted to talk to me - some of the things the Lord was showing me may have been too controversial I guess - I understand that.

But I was trying to follow the scripture listed below - no joy...

Matthew 18:
15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED . 17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

By locking me out of their lives, I had no avenue, no recourse, no path and no fellowship with the leaders here. As much as I tried - there was no reciprocation - nobody called to check on me, nobody cared enough to come out and visit me in my affliction, only an occasional phone call from those that did care but didn't live here locally - thank the Lord for those folks. I started this blog in part to record the experiences that I've had through this process - its a sort of final report if you will on my findings...

Folks, let me say something here - I'm a tough guy and I've been down this path before - change does not come easily, and sometimes we need to be the ones who pay the price for those we love and care about. I've come to recognize that once again, I'm on assignment from heaven. Nothing will deter me now that I am clear on what that assignment is. I thank the Lord for those who have shown me kindness.

If they will treat me like this, then they will and are treating others like this! The Lord will no longer allow the leaders in the Church to treat his bride with such contempt, such disdain and such disregard for what they are all enduring. Love and compassion are supposed to be the rule, not the exception! This is a stench in the Lord's nostrils. He loves his bride and doesn't appreciate the way his bride gets abandoned, treated, judged etc. by those who are living comfortably off of the bride's resources.

As a part of every assignment I've been given, I've always been sanctioned by the senior most executive to go and blend into the workforce for a season to see how they get treated and if the policies and strategies are working and if the 'real people' are being taken care of. I usually end this process by developing a report and sharing it with the executive who then calls all supervisors and management to account for the way they have behaved - its a tough process, and I've received many threats over the years - but its all been worth the cost in the end - because in the end, some of the changes that are necessary are always implemented - this is the nature of my assignment here as well - only this time, like a few other times in the past with Churches, I'm here on behalf of our Chief Executive, the Lord Jesus...

For the record, I still attend, still love all these folks, and consider myself a part of these local believers - I'm not like all the others that would get offended and leave - I'm tougher than that!

Just figured I'd toss this out there for consideration. Hopefully, by logging this experience, many other church leaders that read this will learn and take notice - this type of thing will be happening (if not already) all across this land, stay tuned... MM

Shadows & Mirrors

2009-04-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

I recently posted a question down in the thread a little further entitled "Have you ever wondered?" In the posting I mentioned several particularly interesting things that I've observed within the Body of Christ over the years and asked you the reader to consider if there were other 'wonderings' that you have had as well.

I received a very interesting comment - er... actually a comment was left on my 19 year old son's facebook wall - probably because my son had taken my posting from this blog and reposted it to his wall to share with his brothers and sisters - so I wanted to reveal that comment and discuss it here, where it arguably 'should' have been posted had the poster followed the story back to the original posting. Here it is:

Have you ever wondered why people with jacked up lives, jobs, marriages, ministries etc. are so quick to criticize everything else? How people aren't willing to admit that they keep going around the same mountain job after job, relationship after relationship, and are not willing to sit down and be taught the God way of doing things. Are not more willing to sit and ask for help in their marriage from people who have great godly marriages for example, my wife and I? Why won't people who can't hold a ministry together sit down and learn from a ministry that has been sucessful for almost thirty years, for example Blue Ridge School of the Prophets who have a prohet as the founder and a prophet as the College Dean? Why people can't treat the word submit the way it was intended to be treated in Hebrews chaper 13, verse 7 and 17 instead of treating it like a dirty word? I have wondered all of these things and people do what is right in their own eyes.

Lets discuss.

These comments are somewhat jumbled, but I'll try my best to continue the discussion the best I can.

We all have jacked up lives - that was easy, welcome to Earth - some know it and some pretend that it doesn't exist, its true none-the-less. Thank the Lord Jesus who chooses to work with us, on us and through us no matter what may appear on the outside... Selah for awhile...

I actually agree with most of the rest of the comment - I would add some additional insights;

Asking questions does not criticizing equal. But for the sake of the discussion, is criticism such a bad thing? Unless we all have avenues in our lives to be challenged we will never grow; we will never get better, we will never innovate - if all we subscribe to is status quo, eventually the shelf life of status quo gets old and molds. When we do these things in love, its perfectly healthy to question status quo in the Church.

I find it interesting that the commenter chose to refer to a specific vision, one that I'm unaware of and have been told no longer exists, but OK... And then defended his Title and Position. Is the title that important? Does it really matter? Notice that the commenter said that the School has a "Prophet" as the Dean - so what? That doesn't mean that he/she is leading, it only means that they have a Title of some sort. In the original post, the observation was made that a particularly similar school had no Prophet leading the effort - not what Titles everybody had... Hmmmm, Selah again...

I'm a bit disappointed in the tone of the comment; aside from the valid points made, it appears to be quite abrasive. We should really avoid these types of tactics, although they are pretty prevalent throughout the Church in America. Don't question your authority, don't criticize, don't, don't, don't... Rather than what we should be 'doing'. The commenter had some great advice once you get past the whining...

If you and I have particular problems, we should definitely seek counsel - just make sure that the counsel you seek is from someone who is actually qualified as the commenter suggests. Aside from the normal 'Bible' qualifications, I would suggest someone who has actually been through what you've been through - otherwise the counsel will be relatively moot...

I would like to also note that generally speaking, across America, our leaders are coming to account - they are under the microscope right now as they've done things they shouldn't have done. Does that mean we can rip them apart? No, no, no, no, let me say it again, NO!!! We must all still respect them for what they've done with their lives, and mostly because the Lord loves them.

There are those being raised up in the Church right now who have been assigned the task of calling them to account - it will be ugly for a season, but if the leaders can get passed their egos, and take account, remain humble and go with what the Lord is doing - the Lord will bring the appropriate instruction/correction to their lives and their visions and get things back on track - or not, instead taking it from them and giving it to more faithful men.

While all this is going on, maintain your discipline. Don't over-react like many of them will do. Don't get mad, or take things personally - remember, the Lord still loves them and he is behind them - lest we extend our hands too far and get in trouble for it. Be patient saints, don't hold these things against them - they are in the midst of having to make some major adjustments while the old wineskins die and the new come on the scene.

Those that have real humility will do just fine in time. God Bless... MM

Stop Tithing... No, Really - Stop!

2009-03-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

I put this video up to challenge the Church to reconsider the tradition of 'tithing' to churches all over this land that are simply stealing resources from 'church members' and using those dollars to pay for non-value added items and activities - those resources belong to those who would use them to carry out the great commission - shame on you!

My hope is that my brothers and sisters will stop supporting a form of godliness that possesses no power or salvation, but rather give it all to the Lord to carry out the great commission - we've become a people who think we can just stroke a check and our responsibility has been met - shame on us for buying such a pathetic lie!

Listen to this carefully - for it contains nuggets of Gold that I had to pay a heavy price to gain...

The Parable of Lost Vision

2009-03-28T14:28:00.001-07:00

I used to know of a place called 'The School of the Prophets" that was established many years ago under the direction of the Holy Ghost, planted by a man of God who decades before its inception was given a vision for such a wonderful work. In the grand scheme of things, brilliantly placed into the Earth at such a time to ensure that a crop of 'Prophets' would be raised up to challenge a sleeping church in a time when the end of all things appeared to be unfolding.

In the parable, the beauty of the thing quickly became evident as the Lord skillfully orchestrated events to bring about a methodology to groom those who would become 'Prophets' within the body of Christ. Miracles marked the place! The experience of those who attended was characterized by the unique, the unplanned, the dynamic, the challenging, the love and compassion of the Lord's heart for the saints and an unconventional approach that reflected the individual processes necessary to differentiate 'Prophets' from the rest of the Body of Christ.

It was an exciting and trying experience as the vision began to take shape; the building of the vision was truly an amazing thing to behold. Over the years the man of God wisely shaped the vision, he cared for and protected that vision to ensure that it remained true to its origin as the Word of God so aptly admonishes us to do.

The day came when it was time to turn it over to others; convinced that the foundations were laid well, he gladly handed over the reins to the next generation of 'stewards of the vision'. All seemed well, until one day when word came that maybe there were other options; maybe the Lord was modifying the vision of the place to replace it with something else.

Perhaps a traditional 'Bible College' would suffice (like we need more of those in the Earth, please...), or perhaps more emphasis should be placed on the local fellowship instead of the school itself. Options, options everywhere; what should we do? Stay true to the original or shift the thing into something it was never meant to be? Events conspired to produce confusion; the vision began to slip away quietly until one day, we all woke up to something that was very different from what was started... Selah.

Frustration mounted among the people of God as they leaned forward to continue building the vision, but couldn't seem to find a place of blessing in it. Year after year they labored, hoping that the next year would produce that bumper crop and growth that they so longed for; only to be disappointed by the apparent lack that followed. While praying for abundance, and glossing over the evident lack, they pressed forward until the labor became drudgery. Week after week, the same old thing. Class after class, chapel service after chapel service of lifelessness that began to jeapordize the future of the vision!

Ever patient and absolutely in love with his people, the Lord himself exercised great patience. As the husbandman who had gone into a far country gave his people room to repent of the thing and shift it back to what was originally intended, he waited. He would use the whole experience to write another parable to his church, it was after all a 'School of the Prophets'; why not weave the experience into a lesson for his people?

One day, unbeknown to the instrument itself, he sent the 'Auditor' to check in on his vision. The 'Auditor' slipped in undetected; trained to act like those around him, while hiding the fact that he represented the one who gave the vision. The 'Auditor' poked and prodded, checked and inspected, assessed and evaluated; then he prayed and asked for direction - having found the place to be seriously wanting. The Master instructed the 'Auditor' to confront those who had been stewards of the vision with the findings.

The stewards were very unhappy with the results of the 'Audit' and turned away from the results that were put before them. Years earlier they had surrounded themselves with 'Yes Men' - men who would not dare to question anything that the stewards were doing - men who supported this "New Direction" that the vision had taken.

The Master was very displeased with the results that the 'Auditor' had found and the way the 'Auditor' was treated. He tended his wounds and encouraged him not to take it all personally, and ensured him that he would personally take care of those stewards if they didn't repent and restore the thing back to its original purpose.

This parable has not yet finished! It is ongoing in every church in America! It is currently in motion - as vision after vision from those of old have been handed to men to steward; but who have deviated so much from the original that the Master will soon be visiting his stewards to audit and hold accountable those who have used their position to shipwreck his people and his vision.

I purposely used a particular example, however understand this; God's Holy 'Auditors' are showing up all over this country and are beginning to inspect and audit the house of God. What will he find? Will he find faithful men upon the Earth? What will he find when he visits your house? Your life? Your Church?

Learn the lesson of the Parable of the Lost Vision! Repent and regain that vision that the Lord had for you and yours; return to your first love; your first things. The cry is getting to the Lord's ears - I can hear it plainly.

'Where are the Prophets? Where are the ones whose destiny was to raise up a standard against this evil that has hijacked the Church and the Nation of America? Where are they? I was expecting more' Says the Lord! Selah... MM

A Cry for Freedom

2009-03-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

I would have never imagined in my wildest dreams that the Lord would ever have given me such a message for the leaders in the church - but here it is, like it or not - this message basically accuses the leaders in the modern day church of becoming just like the Pharisees and the Sadducees of old - you know, the ones that Jesus personally rebuked every time he had the opportunity...

I love the leaders in the Church - please folks, get the message and change your approach - if you want to walk in an incredible anointing and blessing - turn yourselves to the book of Acts - follow the New Testament model of church and leave behind this current ineffective model of church while we all still have the chance... Selah! MM

The Reality of Life's Struggle

2009-03-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

I recently viewed this video for the first time - I understand many of you have already seen this, but it brought me to tears when I saw it. In so many ways, so many people are living this struggle out every day. Wondering if and when relief will ever come - all the while the church is sitting around being "Blessed"...

Come on folks, please get engaged in the great commission! Please...

Who Are The Goats..?

2009-03-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

Give It Up!

2009-03-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

What is it about a comfort zone, that we find it to be, well, so comfortable?

There is a new thing happening in the Earth, it would be refreshing if the Church Leaders would actually take notice! Let go of your old ways of thinking; its painfully obvious that the old ways are no longer working - not that they accomplished that much to begin with, but OK, I get it - you tried hard, good for you!

Let me give you some insight into what the Lord is doing in the Earth. Read the Book of Acts - thoroughly! What do you notice? Here are several hints:

1) They didn't have a 2 hour long meeting once a week on Sundays and expect to win the world - duh...
2) They didn't live extravagant lifestyles - choosing rather to live a small life for the sake of giving their resources, time and lives to the cause of the great commission.
3) They freely gave of what they had - refusing to take more than they actually needed to survive - choosing rather to give away the excess - in our generation, we keep the excess and live excessively!
4) They were mobile, agile, under cover, hidden, passionate, and incredibly effective in carrying out their missions.
5) They refused to let themselves get entangled in the affairs of this life - striking blows against the spirit of mammon regularly as the Lord prospered them - note: they had a different definition of 'prosperity' than we do.
6) They actually gave their lives for each other - rather than ignoring each other and their needs.
7) They turned the world upside down for Jesus and were accused of the same by unbelievers - not self-promoting like so many of our modern day ministers do.
8) They never begged for money - had to throw this one in to take a few shots at those on TV that horrify us and make us look like complete idiots by claiming the the Lord will bless us if we send those idiots money (please, don't get me started).
9) They loved people - it wasn't about numbers, it was about people!
10) They were obedient to the Lord - and his anointing increased exponentially as time passed - witnessing unbelievable miracles - we will never see that until we crucify our egos and vaporize our pride!

This is where the Lord is taking the Church - anything less than this is rebellion! I know that change doesn't happen fast, so they say - it would happen faster if the leaders would get ahold of what is actually happening in the Earth and help the church make the turn.

I'm sure there is more - just figured I'd give a little lesson - this is where the Lord is taking his people! Either get on board, or be prepared to be flattened by the move of God. Woe unto you stubborn leaders who refuse to move on - you will find yourselves on the wrong side of a major correction; and not a market correction either... ;) MM

It May be Too Late!!!

2009-03-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

I had a profound experience with the Lord this morning - just had to put up a quick blurb about it all!

We have crossed the threshold of judgement here in America! It is coming and can't be stopped! We the church must pull our heads out of our as*es and begin to no kidding prepare for a wave of crisis after crisis as the foundations of our country are ripped apart at the seams.

Only the church folks that are prepared for this will thrive - the rest will get steam rolled! We must stand up feeding efforts for the poor, water distribution capabilities, medical capabilities, prayer vigils, evangelism outreaches NOW! Did I mention we have to do this NOW!!!

Those of you that don't adjust your lifestyles to align with this prophetic direction will suffer greatly! I love you, and so does the Lord. But this thing is already done in the spirit! There is no turning back! We must grasp the urgency of this and change the way we are living and get ready for the coming storm!

I just don't understand why so many that profess godliness don't get it! MM